


Americano Man and Baby

by Scriber



Series: The Americano Man Series [2]
Category: Benedict Cumberbatch - Fandom, British Actor RPF, Real Person - Benedict Cumberbatch, Real Person Fiction, Sherlock (TV), Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: Baby, Coffee Shops, Love, Music, Radio, Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-11
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2017-12-26 07:28:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/963228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scriber/pseuds/Scriber





	1. Chapter 1

'Its not exactly comfortable hunny.' Dee huffed as she settled down in to her seat. 

'I know Dee, but it won't be for long, we will leave as soon as my category has been announced, I promise.' 

'Well make sure that we do, these seats are not designed for women the size that I am, and you promise to come and get me as soon as you have done your press after winning?'

'Now come on, we know that's not going to happen, and I am assuming you remember your gracious loser face yeah?' 

'Feck off, I'm going to scowl and curse if you don't win and everyone will have to forgive me as I am so fat and swollen they will feel sorry for me.' 

Benedict chuckled and leant over to Dee and kissed her forehead. 'I love you so much even if you are the grumpiest person alive this evening.' 

Dee took his hand and squeezed tight. 'I love you too baby, but can you help me out of the chair as I need a wee?'

'Oh bloody hell Dee, again?'

'Yes again, and so would you if a beach baby was kicking the crap out of your bladder. God these next 3 weeks can't come quick enough for me, I really am too old for this pregnancy lark.' 

Ben stood up and winched Dee out of her chair, and helped her with her voluminous gown that had been custom made to make room for her very large stomach. Dee turned and kissed him on the cheek and whispered 'I won't be long baby.'

Dee waddled off towards the bathrooms, taking her time as walking was more comfortable than being stuck in a tiny chair designed for stick thin models not nine month pregnant women. After having her fifth wee of the evening she slowly started to walk back. 

'Deedee, my wonderful girl.' Boomed an American voice behind her. 

Dee jumped and turned round and was faced with Anthony George, the Hollywood 'God' who she had met a few times over the past few months. 

She leant into him and hugged him tight. 'Hey Anthony, Ben didn't say you were coming, or he might of but my fecking pregnancy brain has made me forget, which seems to be happening a lot recently.' 

'Your looking blooming Dee, you haven't got long now have you? That's why that man of yours has delayed filming my next movie, but he will be worth the wait, and who can blame him for wanting to be around to welcome this little one into the world.' 

'Yeah, sorry about him delaying, but I would of chopped his fecking balls off if he hadn't been here for me and the birth.'

'I understand kiddo, I wouldn't of missed my kids being born for the world, although I just walked up and down having a cigar, not in the actual room like these days, I shudder at the thought. Anyway, lets get you back in and sat down in comfort huh?'

Anthony put his arm out for Dee to take, and escorted her back into the auditorium. All eyes were on the two of them who made the most startling odd couple. A very heavily pregnant woman and an 80 year old man, photographers sprung out to capture the moment. 

'Oh shite Anthony, this was not a good idea, I look like shite, and people are taking these pictures that I will hate to see in the morning and..... Ooffff.'

Dee bent over as a pain hit her from her stomach. 

'You ok kiddo? Do you wanna sit down here?'

'No, no just get me back to Ben, its just this monster kicking the hell out of me.'

'You sure honey? You look kinda pale, you want me to call a doctor or anything?' 

'Anthony I will be fine, you just enjoy your evening, another award in the bag according to Ben.'

'Nothing guaranteed in this game kiddo, you should know that by now.'

'Nah, you've nailed it again, Ben said its fabulous.'

'Still not watching tv or films huh kid?'

'Nah, only ones with the love of my life in, the rest just don't interest me, but, at least you know I will watch your next one eh?'

Anthony did his booming laugh which made people turn and look at the odd couple again. 

As they reached the seat where Dee had left Ben, Ben jumped up to take Dee's arm from Anthony. 

'Hey Anthony, you found this one then?'

'Yeah Son, I found her loitering, you take extra care of her and your precious cargo on board huh?'

'I will, don't you worry. Good luck tonight, not that you need it, and I will be in touch about the filming schedule yeah? It's gonna be at least six months though.'

'Yeah whatever, just look after your family son.' 

As Anthony walked away to his seat, Ben looked round and saw Dee with a pained look on her face while trying to sit down. 

'You ok sweetheart? You don't look very well?'

'Nope, stop fussing, it's just baby will not settle and is kicking me to death and these fecking chairs are too small for my bulging arse.' 

'Well, not long to wait, my category is on third so we can leave as soon as I have lost, I assume you don't want to go to the after party huh?'

'No fecking chance, I can hardly move let alone party.'

The lights dimmed and the awards started. Dee automatically looked bored and started to fidget. The first two categories seemed to take forever and Dee sighed every time someone's acceptance speech went on for too long. Ben took her hand and squeezed, he looked over at her face and mouthed 'sorry'. Dee squeezed back and smiled. 

'And now for best actor in a feature film, the nominees are......'

The film clips of all the nominees were shown on the big screen and Dee cheered when she saw Ben in his latest film. Ben looked at her and smiled as he saw the pride in her eyes. He leant in to her and whispered 'remember the gracious face baby.'

Dee winked at him and gripped his hand tightly. 

'And the winner is.................. Benedict Cumberbatch for 'Where The Good Men Are.'

Dee jumped up out of her chair with excitement, and grabbed Ben for a kiss, he looked genuinely shocked and responded to her kiss. He let her go and walked up to the stage when Dee looked down and said 'fecking hell, not now.'

Dee sat back down as quickly as possible, wondering what the hell to do. She didn't know anyone else who was sat around her and Julian was outside with the press pack and Ben was obviously otherwise engaged. Oh god no, this can't be happening to me now, thought Dee, she could hear Ben's voice in the background saying his speech, but she didn't hear the actual words and was starting to panic. As Ben finished up, she heard him mention her name and then he left the stage. 

Dee took that as her signal to also leave, but was struggling to get back out of the chair. The person next to her who she didn't know saw what she was trying to do and asked if she was ok. 

Dee replied 'erm, look I don't want to panic you, but my waters have just fecking broken, and I'm stuck in this chair, and I don't even know your name, I'm sorry.'

'Oh Jesus Christ, really? Shit. Erm well my names Chris, let me go and get Benedict for you huh?' 

'No, no, don't interrupt him, he's got press and crap, and the contractions have only just started, so there is plenty of time left. He wouldn't like to be disturbed.'

'I think he bloody would, knowing his baby is on the way, please let me get you some help?'

'Well we are leaving straight after his press things so he should be back soon anyway. Err but when he does come will you be able to help me up? And also make sure no one sits on this chair, I think I have pretty much fecking killed it.'

Chris turned to his wife next to him and whispered in her ear. They then slowly swapped seats till she was sat next to Dee. 

'Hi, my names Elsa, Chris has told me what's happened, are you sure your ok? Let him go and get Benedict for you. You need him here to get you to the hospital.'

'There is no need, he will be back soon and then we can.........shite' Dee doubled over as a large contraction hit her hard. Chris saw what had happened and jumped out of his seat and ran up the aisle to the nearest usher he could find. Dee sat back up and looked at where he had gone. 

'Oh Elsa, Ben will kill me. We should of waited.'

'Course he is not going to kill you, he will want you to get you to the hospital and seen to as quickly as possible.' Elsa took Dee's hand and squeezed it tight. 'Chris will get him and you will be on your way in five minutes, I promise you.'

After explaining to the usher what was happening, Chris followed as he was led to where the press pack were congregated. He could see Benedict smiling and talking to one camera whilst holding his award. He quickly walked up to him, and the journalists started shouting his name and asking if he had come to congratulate Ben. Chris gave a half wave and smiled and then grabbed Ben by the shoulder and whispered into his ear 'you need to come now, Dee has gone into labour in the auditorium and she can't leave her chair.' 

Ben looked ashen and in shock, a look that didn't go unnoticed by the gathered journalists. 

'Is everything ok Ben?' 'What has Chris said?'

'Sorry ladies and gents but I must be off, see you all soon no doubt.' Ben managed to stutter out and quickly called for Julian his agent to come over. Ben filled him in on what has happened and Julian quickly pulled out his phone to make the necessary calls to the hospital. 

Chris led Ben back to the awards ceremony with his arm round Ben's shoulders. 'Don't worry mate, she will be fine, Obviously your little one wanted to make this evening extra special for you huh?'

Ben half chuckled and said 'she still has three weeks to go, it's too early isn't it? And it's not going to be easy getting her out of here without people knowing what has happened, and its live on bloody tv, she is going to kill me for dragging her out tonight.' 

Chris tapped his shoulder in reassurance and opened the doors to the theatre. People looked at the two actors walking down the aisle looking shocked and slightly scared in curiosity. As they reached the row where Dee and Elsa were, Ben could see Dee doubled up in her chair breathing very deeply. Elsa rubbing her shoulders. People in the row behind had started to realise something was going on and were looking over the seats to see what it was. 

'Dee, baby, are you ok? We need to leave now can you get up baby?'

Dee looked up into Ben's eyes as he leant over her. 'I don't think I can Benny, I'm sorry I ruined your evening when you won.'

'You haven't ruined anything you stupid woman, you have made it more perfect, but I would prefer you not to give birth here in front of cameras, and I'm sure you would as well huh? Now Chris and I will try and help you up ok?'

'No, don't get me up, there are cameras right next to us, and I look like I have peed myself, please can we just wait till the end?'

Ben sighed and turned to Chris, 'can you have a word with the camera guys Chris and ask if they can move just while we get Dee out?'

'Sure mate, leave them to me.'

Chris moved away and Ben sat next to Dee and held her left hand whilst Elsa held Dee's right one. Elsa was doing an amazing job helping Dee with her breathing and then Ben remembered they had had a baby last year themselves. Ben caught Elsa's eye and mouthed 'thank you' and she smiled back, a caring smile that Ben knew meant its not a problem. 

Chris returned and Ben looked up and noticed all the camera men had moved their positions. 'They said we have five minutes before they have to be back over here for a nominees shots, so we had better get her out of here quickly.' 

Ben turned back to Dee and said 'baby we have to move now, ok? Chris will help me and Elsa will bring your bag and stuff yeah?'

'Oh Jesus wept Ben, I don't know if I can get up. Everything is going on down there.'

'No, you have to move, I'm sorry to sound mean but we have to get you out of here now.'

With that being his last word, Ben grabbed her arm and put it round his shoulders and lifted her out of the chair, once he got her into the aisle Chris got on her other side and grabbed her other arm. Elsa followed behind with the bags. The sight of two famous actors helping a very pregnant lady who was huffing and puffing up the aisle caught everyone's attention and a murmur started going round the auditorium.

The murmur got louder as people realised what was obviously happening. People all turned to stare at the scene playing out in front of them and Dee looked up to see all eyes were on her. 

'I am going to kill you Cumberbatch, this is all your fault. I knew I shouldn't of come, you and your 'it will be fine, you have weeks to go' crap.'

'Im sorry Dee, I truly am, but lets get you settled and comfortable in hospital before you kill me huh?' 

Julian was waiting at the doors to escort them to the ambulance he had called to take them to the hospital. The gathered press had got wind of what was happening and had assembled near to the ambulance to take pictures. The story was a journalists dream, a big awards show, a pregnant woman and two famous actors, they were already planning headlines in their minds. 

As Dee got in the ambulance Ben turned to Chris and Elsa and thanked them profusely. Chris pulled Ben into him for a man hug and said 'do you want us to come with you?'

'No mate, you go and enjoy your evening out, I will call you with any news though yeah?'

'As long as you're sure? Good luck mate and enjoy it, your life is about to change in ways you couldn't imagine.'

The ambulance whisked them off to the private hospital with Ben holding Dee's hand as tight as he could. 

'I hate you Benedict fecking Cumberbatch, you are never coming near me again.'

'I know Dee, I'm sorry your in pain, I'm sorry it's hurting but we will get to see our beautiful baby soon huh?'

'Stop being so nice you git, your still not coming near me again. God I knew there was a fecking reason I didn't have anymore after Eve, its all coming back to me now.'

Ben sponged Dee's head as Dr Chen came bustling in the room and following him came Eve. 

'Eve, baby you got here ok? Julian picked you up yeah?' Ben asked.

'Yes, it was fine, but surely it's too early, will the baby be ok?'

Dr Chen heard this question and said 'oh the baby is only a little bit early, anything after 38 weeks can be considered normal so this little one will be fine. So anyway Dee, lets see how you are progressing, and then we had better get you out of this lovely evening dress and get you ready to meet your baby.'

Dr Chen moved towards Dee and started to lift up her dress to perform the internal. Eve saw what was happening and legged it from the room as fast as she could, and left Ben laughing and Dee trying to laugh through the pain. 

Carol the midwife came in and helped Dee remove her dress and dressed her in the hospital gown. Dee looked up at Ben and said 'I don't look half as glamorous now do I? All that hard work of Mark's and that beautiful dress all gone to waste. I also haven't said a proper congratulations have I? I sort of hogged your evening.'

'Dont ever say that baby, you have made my night, I would of preferred that it didn't all happen in front of everyone for your sake, but this is going to be the best night of my life, after meeting you and Eve.' 

'Its not going to be long either Mr Cumberbatch, this one is eager to make to make an appearance.' Said Carol. 

'Really? Oh wow that's good news isn't it Dee? Not too much longer for the pain.'

'Yes Benny, it's good news, but I still have to squeeze something huge out of something small first, so don't give me all your fecking positivity, just do exactly what I ask and let me shout at you ok?'

Ben leant down and kissed her on the forehead and whispered 'whatever you want.'

The contractions started coming thick and fast, and Carol called Dr Chen back as the birth was imminent. Dee was swearing and shouting at Benedict as often as the pain would allow her too while telling Eve not to copy any of the words she was hearing. 

Ben was trying to be as supportive as possible, but with Dee shouting he kept feeling he was failing at helping her. Eve was holding her Mum's hand and squeezing tightly not really liking seeing her Mum in so much pain, but not wanting to miss the birth of her brother or sister. 

'Aahhhhhh screw you Benedict fecking Cumberbatch' Dee screamed as she was pushing with all the force she could. 'You are an arsehole, and this is all your fault.'

'Now Deedee just a few more pushes and your baby will be with us, so I need you to concentrate and really push for us ok?' Carol said calmly. 

Dee summoned all her energy and looked up at Ben, who just simply smiled and nodded and gripped her hand tighter. Dee then looked up at Eve who also nodded. With all her strength on her next contraction she pushed as if her life depended on it. 

'Thats brilliant Dee, the head is crowning, we just need a couple more pushes and you will see your new baby.' Said Dr Chen. 

There was not much respite between contractions now an Dee could feel the next one building up, she again pushed as hard as she could whilst screaming at the top of her lungs. 

'Thats brilliant Deedee, now after your next push, I will want you to start panting ok?' 

Dee pushed again, and could feel the worst stinging burning pain that she could ever imagine. 'Ffeeeeccccccckkkkkk, I can't do this anymore.'

'Now I need you to pant Dee, pant for me, don't push now.' 

'I need to push, please ahhhh shit.'

'Come on baby, you can do this, I can see the babies head, just keep on panting, that's it. I'm so proud of your right now.'

'Shut the feck up, and leave me alone.' Replied Dee to Ben. 

Dr Chen had delivered the babies shoulders and said 'right Dee one more large push and your baby will be here, I need you to look at Ben and concentrate for me.'

Dee looked up at Ben and he was sure the look was of pure hatred, but behind the eyes he saw the look of love and fragility that showed she was terrified and also totally in love with him. Dee pushed hard, and felt the baby finally leave her body and within seconds a piercing newborn scream could be heard. Dee collapsed back in relief for a few seconds and then looked up at Ben to see him sobbing his eyes out. 

'You have a beautiful healthy baby boy Deedee, Benedict and Eve.' Said Dr Chen as he passed the newborn up to Dee's arms. 

Dee looked down and the exhaustion suddenly seemed to have vanished as she cradled the new addition to their family.


	2. Chapter 2

The three original members of their family all stared down at the new addition. All four of them were crying. 

'Oh Dee, I am so proud of you. You have made me the happiest man alive, I love you baby, and I love you too Eve and I already love this little man as well.'

'I love you to Benny, thank you for giving me this gift, even though I still want to kill you, but hopefully that will pass soon.'

Ben laughed as he stroked the new baby's cheek. 'So what are we going to call him then? Any ideas Eve?'

'Something cool like Hercules or Thor.'

Dee turned to Eve in horror and Ben looked at Eve shocked. 

'Erm I don't think so Eve, think of the poor boy at school.' Replied Dee. 

'We will just have to think longer wont we?' Said Ben trying to be the voice of reason.

Dee looked up at Ben at that moment and said 'so does Dad finally want his turn then?'

'Oh bloody hell do I, I didn't want to take him off you as you both looked so beautiful, but I am desperate to hold him, give him here to me.'

Dee carefully passed the baby across worried about how Ben was going to hold him, but her fears were unwarranted. He held him like a pro and the newborn snuggled into his Dads arms. Dee suddenly burst into tears again, and sobbed 'this is just how I wanted it to be. The three of us all together holding our new baby, we really are lucky.' 

Ben stood up, carefully still holding his son and kissed Dee hard on the lips through her sobs, he then carefully pulled Eve in to give him a half cuddle. 'So Eve, do you want to meet your baby brother properly then? It's your turn now.' 

Eve looked scared but Ben told her to sit in the chair and he carefully passed the baby over, whilst she held her arms out. Eve looked down at her new brother with total adoration. 

Ben was lying by the side of Dee on her bed, stroking her face and giving her forehead gentle kisses. 'I had better go and make some phone calls Dee, we need to tell people the good news.'

'No, leave it just a little while longer, I don't want people to know yet. I just want it to be the four of us in our little bubble before the craziness starts.' 

'Dee, I need to tell Julian and Chris and Elsa and what about everyone at the cafes? They don't even know you have gone into labour.'

'Don't be stupid of course they will know, it's probably been plastered all over the news that a whale went into labour at the awards ceremony.' I bet if you turned my mobile on, their will be hundreds of messages from them all. No, just leave it a while longer and then you can call ok?'

'Anything for you, you were amazing tonight, I know you wanted to kill me, but you were so strong, so brave. At least next time I will know what to expect.'

'Next time? Next fecking time? There will be no next time. This is it, forever, we are never having sex again just in case. You Mr Cumberbatch are now a monk as far as sex in concerned.' 

Ben laughed and hugged Dee, 'you wouldn't be able to resist me Deedee Evans.'

'Ugh, you two are so fecking gross.' 

'Eve Evans, wash your mouth out. I don't know where you get that sort of language from.' Admonished Dee all the while smiling. 

The family scene was disturbed by Carol coming in to check everything was ok and to do some observations on both Dee and the new baby. 

'So do we have a name for this handsome man yet?' 

'Oh no, we haven't chosen yet, sorry.'

'Thats ok, what surname is he going to have? We will just put him down as that for now.'

'Cumberbatch' replied Dee which caused Ben to cry. Dee held his hand as she looked at him, she then turned to Eve and Eve simply nodded in agreement. 

'We will all be Cumberbatch soon, so he may as well be the first.' 

'Very well, baby boy Cumberbatch it is then.' Carol responded. 

'Ben, please stop crying now, and help us think of a name, whatever we choose we are screwed, as nothing goes with fecking Cumberbatch does it?'

'Its a solid surname Dee, don't be so harsh.'

The look Dee gave him in response made him start laughing and say 'you're right, we are screwed.' 

Carol finished all her checks and passed baby Cumberbatch to Dee for her to start feeding. Ben looked down in admiration as his son latched on straight away and started suckling. Dee yawned and lay her head back as the evening all came crashing down on her at once. 

'I would suggest that you all try and get some rest.' Said Carol. 'Eve can use the guest suites we have here and you Ben can either stay here on the lounger chair or we can get you a guest suite as well.'

'I'm not going anywhere, I will sleep here next to Dee, we have spent too many nights apart in the past. But Eve you need to get rest we will be busy tomorrow with visitors and going home.'

'I'm knackered, and I want to text Hannah the news so I will go to bed, wake me in the morning yeah Ben-Dad?'

'Course I will, sleep tight Eve and thank you for being here, it really means a lot to me and your Mum.' Ben hugged her tightly as he said it. 

Ben snuggled up next to Dee on the small hospital bed, his eyes never once leaving his new son's eyes. 'How did we get so lucky baby?' 

'We have truly been blessed Ben, we need to remember these precious moments and they will keep us going through life. And with that, I'm going to put this little monster in his cot and get some sleep.'

'Oh no don't put him down, give him to me. You get some sleep, you have done a wonderful job tonight but you need to rest.' 

Dee passed baby Cumberbatch over and smiled at the vision of Son and Dad. With another yawn, she laid back and closed her eyes. Ben soon heard her breathing get deep and knew she had fallen into a deep sleep and he smiled to himself. 

At 3am they were both woken with a jump as a loud cry emitted from Ben's arms. 'Feck, what the hell is that?' Exclaimed Dee as she awoke with a start. 

'I think he's hungry darling? Unfortunately I can't help him with that.' Replied Ben.

Ben passed the newborn over to Dee as she pulled her hospital gown down to start breast feeding him. 

'God this feels weird, this time yesterday we were fast asleep at home and dreaming of you winning an award. Now just 24 hours later I am feeding my new son, you have won an award and life has completely changed.'

'I know it's bloody amazing and kind of a head fuck all at the same time.' 

'Im going to need your help Ben, I can't do this all by myself. I feel selfish saying that but please be careful what projects your choose in the future.'

'I have already thought of that and I don't want to be away from any of you for any length of time. You will have me around until you are totally sick of me.'

'So about a fortnight then yeah?' Said Dee while laughing. 

'Oh, like that is it?' Ben leant over and kissed her softly on the lips. 

Dee responded and the kiss get harder until Dee pulled away looked at him and said 'I have just had a baby and you still manage to give me the horn just by kissing me, what the feck is that about? Feck you Mr Cumberbatch.'

'What can I say it's my animal magnetism, and you love it.' 

'I do but there will be none of that for a long time, if ever again. As much as I love this beach boy, I can't do this again, I am too old for all this.'

'Dont be silly, Dee your no age at all, we could have another 5 and you still wouldn't be old.'

'Get that idea straight out of your head, that is never going to fecking happen. Now do you want your son to hold while I go back to sleep?'

'Do you even have to ask?'

Ben sat staring at the new life in front of him and he felt like his heart would burst. Dee turned over and went straight back to sleep. 

At 8am Dr Chen came bustling in waking the new family up. 'Good morning, good morning. How are we this morning and how is baby boy Cumberbatch? Did you sleep ok?'

'Uaawwww morning Dr.' Replied Dee yawning 'yep I slept well, the baby only woke up once, I can't say the same for Ben though I think he was awake from 3am just staring at his son.'

'Well can you blame me?'

'He's not going anywhere, you will have plenty of years to stare at him. Is Eve awake yet?' Asked Dee.

'I haven't seen her yet, she is probably exhausted, it was quite a night. Talking of which do you want me to get Julian to bring the papers in or would you rather not see them?'

'Oh feck, I had forgotten all about them, nah I will look online when I can be bothered. Lets hope something else happened at the awards which took the focus of us huh?' 

'I don't think it did Ms Evans, if the photographers outside the hospital are anything to go by.' Interrupted Dr Chen.

'Oh crap, Ben you had better call Julian and try and see if we can sort it out. I don't want to be photographed looking like this.' 

'I will call him now and also make all the other phone calls you wouldn't let me make last night. People will want to know that he is here safe and well.'

'I suggest you go and do that now Mr Cumberbatch, while I give Ms Evans her final once over and then in a couple of hours you can all go home.' 

Dr Chen proceeded to check Dee and baby Cumberbatch for any signs of problems and took some blood tests from Dee. 'We will get these processed and if everything is ok, you can be on your way, back home to start your new life together.'

'Thank you Dr Chen, thank you for everything you really have been amazing, and Carol has too.'  
'Thank you Deedee, your more than welcome, it's lovely to see a family so obviously in love as yours is.' 

Dee placed her new son in his cot and went to the bathroom. Looking up in the mirror she could not believe how rough she looked. Make up everywhere, hair frizzing and sticking out. Oh crap, she thought to herself this is going to need some work. Going back to the room she found her bag and got out her mobile. When she looked she had 146 unread text messages, 27 voicemails and 51 missed calls. Ignoring all of it she hit Mark's contact details and prayed that he was free to take care of the mess that he was going to be confronted with. 

'Mark, hey hunny, it's Deedee.'

'Omg Dee, what's the news? Have you had the baby yet, when we heard we were all so excited and its been on all the news channels how it happened.'

'Yes Mark hunny, we had a baby boy very late last night. 7lbs 2 oz and wonderful and beautiful.'

'That is amazing news, so what's his name?'

'No names yet, but we will find one for him, we just won't let Eve pick after her suggestions last night. Anyway Mark can I ask you a massive favour?'

'You want me to come in and do your hair and make up huh?'

'How the feck did you know that?'

'Well, I checked my schedule when I heard you had gone into labour at the awards do as I knew the press would be out in force. My bags are all ready for you, I was waiting for your phone call Mama.'

'You are an angel and a lifesaver, could you also swing past my house and pick my hospital bag as we have nothing here for the baby and could you also bring my bag as well. They are all packed and in my bedroom.'

'Course I will, I will get the keys from the cafe. I will be with you as soon as I can. I can't wait to give hugs and kisses to the baby.'

'Thanks Mark, I owe you, oh one other thing don't tell anyone I have called you, I want to call work and let them know myself.'

'No worries see you in about an hour or so. Grab a shower before I get there to save time.' 

Ben walked back into the room, grinning from ear to ear and looking very crumpled from spending a night in his suit. 'Julian is on his way in to see us all and release a press statement, but before he gets here, he asked me to ask if you would be willing to pose for some pictures to placate the journalists waiting and then he will ask for privacy. What do you think?'

'Im one step ahead of you Cumberbatch, Mark is on his way over to get me looking at least human so we can leave through the front door with our 2 children and our heads held high. Now you are back will you be able to stay and watch our son while I have a shower? I can't leave him on his own just yet, I'm scared too.'

'You don't have to ask me, of course I will. Can I pick him up though?'

'No! Just leave him in his cot, you can't keep holding him all day every day.'

Ben pouted and looked sulky and sat down next to Dee with pleading eyes. 

'Its not going to work on me hun, he has to get used to sleeping by himself, or we will be forever holding him.'

'But, but, he's so tiny, he won't know what's going on.'

'Oh they know Benedict, they bloody know.'

Ben sighed and went back to going through his phone and seeing all the messages and missed calls he had. 'Did you have hundreds of messages as well Dee?'

'Oh god yes, I will have to go through them, but I can't be arsed yet. I need to call work and give them the news after I have had a shower. By the way who were the couple that helped us last night? They seem to know you, but I have not met them before. They were so sweet.'

'They were Chris and Elsa, an amazing couple who had a baby last year. Chris has done some comic book movies and is a big star. You would really like them if you met them in better circumstances.' 

'We must send them a present to say thank you, I will try and think of something, I don't fecking know what I would of done if he hadn't come and got you. It's so embarrassing that it happened, it could only bloody happen to me couldn't it?' 

'Its all over now baby, and we will get home and just relax....'

'Relax? Oh how I love your optimism my americano man. Their is no relaxing with a newborn baby in the house, and we have a teenager to deal with as well. Your idea of relaxing will be a distant dream come a few days time.' Interrupted Dee, 'now help me up and get me in the shower and then I will call the cafes. 

Ben stood up and pulled Dee off the bed. He held her in his arms whilst doing so and she stayed with her head on his shoulder enjoying the love they shared together.'


	3. Chapter 3

'Deedee you look amazing baby, they are not going to say anything bad about you, you have just had a baby for christs sake of course you are going to still have a big tummy.' 

'You don't get it Ben, all those glamorous women snap back into shape and look amazing instantly and I'm going to go out there looking like shite, they will comment the bastards always do.'

'Mama Dee, those women sneak out the back door, have a personal trainer for 6 hours a day for 6 weeks and then hold a photo shoot to look glamorous to introduce their baby, you are keeping it real and they will love you for it. You look amazing considering you have just had a baby.'

'Oh feck it, lets get this show on the road then. Eve you ready baby? And Ben you will not let go of me will you? And Mark thank you.'

'Dee my darling slow down, we just stand there for a couple of minutes and then we will get in the car. Julian will give them all the details afterwards so we don't even have to talk if we don't want to.'

The group slowly made their way down to the front doors, Dee tightly holding her new baby in her arms. Mark and Julian were carrying the bags and Benedict had his arm tightly around Eve's shoulder. 

'Benedict, Deedee, congratulations. How do you feel?

'Is it a boy or a girl?'

'How did it feel going into labour at the awards ceremony Dee?' 

The new family of four smiled for all the cameras, while listening to the barrage of questions, and camera flashes.

'Come on guys, give us something, what's the baby's name?'

Ben looked down at Dee and she slowly nodded. 'We had a baby boy very late last night, we haven't chosen a name yet but the three of us are deliriously happy with the new addition to our family. Now we must get home so we can all rest as I am sure you understand we are all rather tired. Thanks guys.' 

Ben went and opened the car door for Dee to place their baby boy in his car seat and helped her and Eve get into his car. He then said his goodbyes to Mark and Julian, who promised to be round later with presents and for cuddles and drove off home. 

Opening the front door felt like a relief for Dee, 'thank god we are home, I hate being away from our new home, and I just want to change into my pyjamas and sleep for a month.'

'You go and get into bed with the little fella and I will be up soon ok?' 

'Thank you Benny, what about you Eve? Are you going to have some more sleep?' 

'Nah Mum, I'm going out with Hannah as soon as she gets back from school, so I will go and have a shower and get ready, can she come and see my new brother when she comes round?'

'Of course she can baby, you don't have to ask, he's your brother, the only rules are you don't wake him up when he is sleeping. One word of advice for life Eve is never ever wake a sleeping baby, it will always come and bite you on the arse.' 

'Thanks for that Mum, but after seeing what you went through last night I am never ever having babies, it was like a horror film.' 

'But look what you end up with Eve, a beautiful tiny person who will hopefully turn out to be as wonderful as you are.'

'Yeah, it so isn't worth it, all he has done is eat, sleep and crap. Nope no grandchildren for you Mum and Dad.'

Dee's head snapped up, and she noticed that Ben's did too. 

'What did you just say Eve?'

'That your not getting any grandchildren from me why?'

'No after that, you called Ben just Dad.'

Eve looked to the floor and blushed. 'I want to call him that, I want to call him the same name as my new baby brother will, is that ok?'

'Are you sure about this?' Asked Ben his voice sounding so serious, Dee walked across to him and held his hand. 

'I really am, I have thought about it for a few weeks, and spoke to Hannah about it and she said lots of people have two Dads that they call Dad and I want you to be my Dad as well.'

Ben had tears rolling down his face as he walked to Eve, grabbed her into a hug and said 'you have made this Dad even happier than he ever thought was possible.' 

'Ben, man up and stop crying and leave the poor girl alone. Look you are dripping on her, no teen wants their Dad dripping tears on them you soppy git. Now Eve go and get ready, Ben take me and your son to bed for some sleep, and then bring me all the chocolate that we have in the house I'm starving.' 

Ben and Eve giggled while still hugging each other. Ben slowly let go and went over to help Dee get upstairs. 

Dee awoke to a gurgling noise coming from next to her bed. 'Hello baby, are you wide awake? Are you not hungry yet? Oh yes I think you may be getting that way, shall we feed you and then see where your Daddy has got to huh? Yes I think we will.'

Dee bent over to the cot next to the bed and picked up her new son, and he was soon content and happy feeding. 

'Do you know how loved you are baby boy? Huh do you? Your family love you so much, you are the luckiest boy alive. And your Daddy is going to drive you crazy, he will keep picking you up, and hugging you and kissing you, and sometimes you will just want to be left alone but he does it as he has so much love in his heart, he has to show it. And sometimes your Daddy won't be around for a few weeks, but he will always come back and he will of missed you so much. You have got one of the best Dads a little boy could ask for. He may not be able to teach you football, but he will teach you how to act and probably fool your Mama, and he will teach you how to pretend fight without hurting yourself and when I'm not looking he will teach you how to get the pretty ladies I'm sure. I will teach you how to make the worlds best coffee, and how to be nice and open hearted with everyone you meet, and how not to break the ladies hearts. 

Are you full up huh? Ohh lets take you downstairs and let your Daddy get some hugs yeah? Yes I think we should.'

Dee slowly carried him down the stairs holding him tightly, as she got halfway down she could hear voices and laughter. 'I think we have visitors little man, your Daddy will be in trouble for not waking me.' As she opened the living room door she saw Ben sat on an armchair and he jumped up to help her in. 

Dee passed baby Cumberbatch over to him and turned round to see who had visited. 

'Oh wow, Chris, Elsa and Julian. This is a surprise.' As she said hello she looked round and saw that it looked like a florist and a baby shop had thrown up in their living room. 

'What the feck happened in here? Where has all this stuff come from? Bloody hell we are going to need a bigger house for all this stuff.'

Her guests all laughed and she blushed and apologised. 'Sorry that was rude of me, I only went to bed a couple of hours ago and this room was empty, if it carries on like this we won't be able to move by tomorrow. Before anything I must say a massive thank you to you Chris and Elsa. Without you we would have probably had this little man in the theatre on live tv.'

'You're more than welcome, I think you would of done the same for me Dee.' Replied Elsa. 

'Well us girls have to stick together as the men are useless in crisis aren't they? Did your Chris cry like a big girl when your baby was born as well?' 

'Oh god yes, I had to tell him to man up in the end.' 

Dee threw a triumphant look at Ben and said 'hah, told you hunny, stop with all the crying, but no seriously thank you so much, would you like a nice newborn cuddle now?'

'I thought you would never ask' said Chris.

'What? I meant Elsa first Chris! All you did is get Ben she did the proper stuff like rubbing my shoulders and helping me breathe you can take your fecking turn. Ben hand the little man over, and then maybe we should pick these people's brains for names, we can't keep calling him baby or little man.'

Ben carefully passed baby Cumberbatch over to Elsa who straight away bent down and kissed his head and breathed in that beautiful new baby smell. 'Oh Chris, he smells amazing, I have missed this, I think we should have another one.' 

'Anytime you want baby, anytime.' Replied Chris smiling. 

'God, you two are fecking crazy, don't you remember the pain and the sleepless nights and did i mention the excruciating pain?' Said Dee.

'Oh Deedee you forget all that when you have them in your arms.' Replied Elsa looking down at the sleeping baby.

'Well I haven't forgotten, and I don't think I ever will. I have already warned Ben he is living a monks life from now on. We are strictly non sexual in this house from here until eternity. Now lets get on with names.'

The friends discussed and argued names but none struck Dee or Ben as suitable, they went through the baby name book for the hundredth time, but still no inspiration came to them.

'Well it looks like you are baby Cumberbatch for a while longer then, doesn't it' cooed Dee to her son who was now being cuddled by Julian. 'Lets hope we find one soon or Hercules or Thor could be a contender like Eve wants.'

'Thor?' Asked Chris 'your daughter wanted Thor?' Chris burst out laughing and everyone else except Dee laughed with him.

'Whats so funny? I don't get it?'

'Thats who Chris plays in his films baby, he is Thor!'

'Oh feck really? God I feel dumb, I'm sorry but I don't watch films or tv very much so I am ignorant to what people do.'

'Ben had warned us about that before you came down, he asked us not to be offended if you had no clue what we do, and none is taken I promise you.'

'Thanks Chris. I know I sound like a weirdo and I probably am, but I just have no interest in that sort of stuff, I like to meet the real people and get to know them.'

The doorbell interrupted the conversation and Ben jumped up to get it. Loud voices could be heard through the front door and Dee knew exactly who it was. 

'Thats the kids from work Ben, tell them to keep it down, we live in the poshurbs now they can't be making that racket.' 

Ben opened the door and to his surprise was greeted by balloons, flowers and the biggest teddy bear you could ever imagine. From behind the bear out popped Matt, Mark, Fontayne, Katy, Summer and even Tom. 

'Wow, all of the gang are here, come in, and thanks for all the presents, Dee was right we are going to need a bigger house. Come on, come in.'  
The group piled into the living room, said hello's to the already congregated guests and sat down in every available place. Ben struggled in after them carrying the bear that was nearly as tall as him. 

'What the hell is that?' Asked Dee. 'What sort of idiot buys that?'

'Errr all the regular customers from the original cafe bought it Mama.' Said Matt.

'What? Really? Oh bless the mad loons, give them a free coffee when they next come in yeah Katy? I still don't have a bloody clue where we will put it. So who's for coffee?'

Various orders were hollered out and Ben stood up to make them. 

'Hahaha Ben do you really think you can make all those? You can't make them with that instant shite you use ya know. Sit down and entertain them, Tom can come and help me can't you Tom?' Dee winked at Ben who then gave her a knowing nod. 

'Of course Deedee, whatever help you need.' Replied Tom always the gentleman. 

When they reached the kitchen, Dee started to get everything she needed ready and said 'how are you getting on Mr Shakespeare? Haven't seen you for ages.'

'Im good Dee, really good, I only got back this morning from filming in America and to hear your news was amazing. Trust me to miss the best entertainment at an awards ceremony in years! Your boy sure knew how to arrive huh?'

'That he did, I was bloody scared to be honest, it was very embarrassing, but you are sure you are ok yeah?'

'Im fine Dee, stop asking about me, it's you and the baby we are all interested in.'

'Well that's why I asked you to help me, before the little man was born, Ben and I had discussed god parents and your name was mentioned and we just wondered if you would think about it?'

'What? Me a godparent? Wow that is such an honour, I don't have to think about it, I would be more than honoured. Thank you.' Tom then started to sniff and well up. 

'Oh for fecks sake, are there no real men left in my life. Do not bloody cry, I can't cope with anymore men crying.'

Tom walked to Dee and hugged her carefully, 'you are the most incredible woman, and Ben is so lucky to have you, I wish I had what you both do.'

'What do you mean, you have Summer who is madly in love with you, you're living together and seem wonderfully happy.'

'Things have been changing Dee, I don't think Summer can cope with me going a way all the time. I have offered her to come with me but she doesn't want to. I love her I really do, but I don't think we are enjoying our time together as we should be.'

'Its a blip, all relationships go through them.'  
'You and Ben don't seem to.'

'Well, I don't think you can say that considering we split up for a few months earlier this year can you?'

'That was different, that was one incident, as soon as you knew the truth you were back and more in love than ever, with Summer and I, it just seems a constant struggle to get on. Do you remember when I told you the way you and Ben look at each other makes me jealous? I still am. Summer doesn't look at me like that anymore, and to be honest I don't know if she is the girl I want to look at me like that anymore. Does that make sense?'

Dee stopped the drink she was making on her espresso machine and turned to Tom. 'Tom, you are one of our best friends, and I love you always and what life has taught me is to follow your heart. If you don't feel happy and your heart doesn't then it is better to move on now. Life is too short to live with an unhappy heart. Make every moment count, it will be tough and Summer will be upset, but she has us and you do as well to help you through. We will not take sides, I don't work like that. We are here for you anytime you need a chat, but follow your heart babe, please listen to it.'

'Thank you Dee, and thank you for asking me to be a godfather, I will look after that boy with my life, you can count on that.'

'Your welcome Tom, now come and give this new Mama another hug, I love the Tom hugs and the Tom love.' As Tom held her in his arms she whispered 'make every moment count Tom and follow your heart. A wise man once told me that, and he was right.' 

Tom carried the ten different drinks Dee had managed to make in record time in to the living room for her. As Dee entered the room she heard her little man start to get grumpy and probably wanting feeding again. 'There is no rest for the wicked is there? Do you wanna pass him up Matty-Boy and I will feed him. Then you can have him back again.' 

The afternoon and evening passed in a haze of friends, babies, laughter and more deliveries than a Royal Mail depot. Dee had a ball and so did Ben, he kept looking at Dee and could see she was getting tired but she also looked so happy he didn't want to interrupt the evening. Tom must of seen the same look in her eyes as he stood up and said 'right people, I think we need to leave this beautiful family to get some rest and some peace and open the hoard of gifts that have been delivered.'

All the guests jumped to their feet murmuring agreement with Tom, and said goodbyes with kisses and hugs. Suddenly the room felt quiet and still. It was just Dee, Ben and their little man. 

'Well that was quite a day, I love them all to bits but I'm glad it's just us now. I wish Eve was home though.'

'I agree Deedee, lets get you and our little boy settled in bed and I will bring up the cards and presents for us to open yeah?'

'That sounds like a good plan Mr Cumberbatch, you are too perfect for me.'


	4. Chapter 4

The family settled into their new routine over the next couple of days, but niggles were starting to creep in. 

'We must pick a name that we all agree on. This little man is 4 days old and he is still baby Cumberbatch or little man. We are sorting this today.' 

'Ben, don't worry a name will come to us, we can't rush it, he has to live with it for the rest of his life.'

'No Deedee, this needs to be sorted. And it will be today.'

'Don't take that fecking tone with me. It's your bloody surname that's taking away all our options.'

'Oh so it's my fault is it? It's my fault that you dismiss any names any of us come up with?' 

'Yes it is, you keep pressurising me into finding a name, we need to take our time and make sure it's the perfect name, not just any old crap that you keep wanting to hoist on him.'

'The names I have chosen are not crap, you are being fussy.'

'Fussy? Fussy? How can wanting the perfect name for our newborn son be being fussy?'

'We need to get this sorted Dee, Julian is getting asked by the press daily for a name and he's beginning to feel an idiot by saying we haven't chosen one yet.'

'Oh so we have to call him any name, just to save Julian and the press some blushes huh? Feck them all, it's nothing to do with them. I will not be forced into any name just cos you are in the public eye. This is a bloody private matter.'

Ben went to answer and Dee said 'no save it, I can't talk to you right now, you have made me so angry trying to force the issue.' 

Dee walked away and went upstairs with baby Cumberbatch in her arms. As she sat on the bed her mobile started ringing. Looking down she saw it was Tom. 'Hey Tom, are you ok?' 

'No, how are you Dee? And how's your new addition? Any news on a name yet?'

'Don't you fecking start, I don't need that crap again. No we haven't chosen a name and apparently that's all my fault.'

'Are you really ok Dee? You sound upset?'

'Ben and I have just had a row about the baby's name that's all, you caught me as I have just stormed upstairs.'

'Go and sort it out with Ben, I will call you tomorrow yeah?'

'No, no stay and talk to me, what were you calling me for Tom? Is everything ok?'

'Dee, go and make up with Ben please, I don't like the thought of you both arguing.'

'We will be fine, just tell me what's wrong. I know there is something you are hiding.'

'How do you know? How do you have that knack of knowing even over the phone that something is wrong? 

'Its a gift Shakespeare and also a curse. Now spill, oh hold on just two ticks, little man needs feeding.' Dee got the baby settled and happy and picked up the phone again. You still there Tom?'

'Yep I'm here, are you sure it's ok to talk? You sound busy.'

'Its fine, he is latched on and guzzling away, now come on tell Mama what's going on.'

'Its over for Summer and I. We talked all night and we both want different things. I can't be what she wants me to be and she doesn't want the things I want. She says she is too young for a family, and seeing your new family, I want that Dee, I want what Ben has.'

'Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry, but, Tom don't dream and envy what others have, make your own dreams baby. Did you follow your heart like I told you to?'

'I did Dee, my heart wasn't in it anymore. We have drifted apart, she wants to go out partying all night and I just want to relax at home with someone by my side. And she said that that was old and boring and I was selfish trying to keep her at home chained to the kitchen, when I didn't mean that at all.'

'Tom hunny, some things in life are only meant to last a finite time, maybe you and Summer are one of these things. You needed each other for a period of time, to show you what you truly want in life, now you have both figured this out maybe this is the next step for you both. But, if you truly love each other, you will work it out.'

'I don't know if I do want to work it out anymore, we are different people to when we got together, sometimes I felt she only wanted me for my career and the parties, but other times she would be so loving and so caring that I felt like the luckiest man alive. Bloody hell why can't she be you Dee?'

'What the feck Tom, that's not an appropriate thing to say to a breast feeding lady.'

'No, shit, sorry, I meant why couldn't she have your refreshing attitude to the profession we have chosen. You really don't care what Ben does, you love him truly for him.'

'Well that was helped by not having a clue who he was when we first met, and I'm a lot older than Summer and had been married before, these things change a person. Summer was young and carefree, maybe that's how she wants to be, but don't feel bad that it is not enough for you now. It is better to realise it now than when you have children in the mix. How did Summer take it Tom? I will have to call her you do know that?'

'I know she is one of your kids Dee, I knew you would worry about us both. To be honest she seemed fine, and the most upsetting part was she didn't seem that bothered.'  
'Why did that upset you Tom? Surely you should of been relieved that you didn't break her heart? I know your not as arrogant to want to break a girls heart.'

'I don't know Dee, I think it upset me that she didn't care, maybe I hoped she would fight for us and change her mind.'

'Ah so you tried to bluff it out and she called you huh? For an intelligent man you really are stupid. You want different things, how can saying if you don't want the same things as me we are over work? Tom, you want different things, that will never change. Suck it up, grieve and move on.'

'Thats harsh, but fair in this situation I suppose. God, I'm all over the place, look Dee you get back to your family and make up with Ben, I will speak to you soon ok?'

'Tom, come on over, let me call Summer first to see that she is alright but then come over and have dinner with us. You don't want to be alone and your godson will love to see you.'

'No Mama Deedee you need to go and spend time with each other you don't want a maudlin actor getting in the way.'

'Nonsense, give it an hour and come on over ok. I'm ordering you to come over and spend some time with us and you can't deny a new mum can you?'

'Ok, fine, I will see you soon, and thanks Dee, what did I do before you came into my life all those years ago?'

'You were a struggling actor with a penchant for crap coffee, and then I turned you around reading all those lines with you, right get your arse round here.'

Dee called Summer straight away and had a heart to heart with her. It was a variation of the same theme that she had heard from Tom. She said she was fine with the decision and Dee thought she actually did sound ok. With a promise of a phone call if she needed to talk anytime Dee said goodbye and went to move downstairs to tell Ben that Tom was coming round. She could hear him on the phone. 

'No, still no name..... Well we are working on it...... I just feel like I am failing her at the moment, ever since the birth I feel like I'm the worst partner in the world...... She screamed at me the whole way through..... And then of course there is the trauma of her going into labour on her own at an awards do, with me prattling on to the press when she really needed me...... And today I shouted at her for not choosing a name, this isn't like me. I love her with all of my being but I feel I have failed her....'

'You would never fail me Ben, you couldn't.'

Ben spun round to see Dee standing there. 'Boss, I have to call you back.' Ben hung up the phone and turned back to Dee. 'I feel I have darling, I shouldn't of shouted at you about the name, it was childish and uncalled for, and I should of been there when your labour started but I wasn't, I was off being the big winner..'

'No you weren't, you were being your normal, wonderful self. You didn't know my waters had broken, I know if you did you would of been there like a shot. You never have and never will fail me. This has been a tough few days, we are all knackered and high on the arrival of this little man and its taking some adjusting. Can we forget earlier and work together?'

'Come here my adorable women, let me hold you and tell you how much I love you.'

Dee walked over to the baby's cot placed him in it and walked back to Ben. He wrapped his arms around her so tightly she felt protected and safe from anything that was thrown at them. They stood tightly wrapped together for a few minutes when Dee shouted 'William!' 

'I know you have baby brain darling, but my names Ben.'

'No you fecking idiot for little man, William.'

'Hhmmm William, I like that, and it goes as well as can be expected with my surname. William Cumberbatch. It's got quite a regal ring to it.'

'And everyone will call him Will, but not Willy as I will smack them if they do that.' Replied Dee. 

'Have we actually agreed on a name? Is it a miracle that after 4 days two intelligent people have come up with a name finally?'

'I think we have, let's shout Eve down and see if she approves huh?'

'Eve? Eve hunny, come down here please.' Yelled Dee up the stairs.

'What? What do you want?' Was shouted in a usual teen strop back at her.

'Oh so you don't want to hear your brothers new name, and before you ask it's not bloody Hercules.'

Dee heard her opening the door of her teen hovel and slowly walking down the stairs. 'Is it a lame name, that people will laugh at like Apple or Moses?' 

'What do you think of William? It rather suits him don't you think?'

'Thats not bad for oldies actually, Hercules or Thor would of been better but Will suits him, he looks like a Will.'

'Thats agreed then, lets get the champagne out we have finally named him. Welcome to the world William Cumberbatch.' 

They all cheered and hugged and stood over William in his cot. He was oblivious to all that was going on around him as he was fast asleep with a content look upon his face.

Dee turned to Ben and said 'crap, I forget to tell you Tom will be round soon, he has broken up with Summer and he's a bit down about life so I said he could stay for dinner is that ok?'

'Course it is, if its ok for you? I don't want you to get worn out with too many visitors, you need to get your rest when William does, god that sounds weird calling him an actual name and not various connotations on baby.'  
'Im fine Ben, I have never been happier, and if I get tired I am sure you boys can talk or watch some crap on the worlds biggest tv that you needed to buy so desperately when we moved in, while I have a sleep. We will get a take away, no cooking tonight.'

'That sounds perfect, we also need to open the rest of the presents that got delivered today. Julian said he has over 100 gifts that have been delivered to the office that he will bring over in the next couple of days.'

'Bloody hell, how are we ever going to write back to all these people? We must do it, but its going to be a full time job, to do it though.' 

'We will muddle through as we always do. We've also got to get gifts for Julian and Chris and Elsa to say thank you, and we also need to choose the other godparents. Have you had any thoughts?'

'I have actually and I would like Mark and Eve. I know Matt may be upset but I can't choose between my kids at work and Mark and I are so close now that he has to make me look like a human once a week for your parties and such like and the way he looked after me when erm, when you know what happened he is amazing to me.' 

'Oh you have thought about it well haven't you, and I think asking Eve is an amazing touch. Do you think she will like it? I think she will love it.'

'Shes a teenager who knows what she will think but we have to ask her. I also want to discuss me going back to work and when that will be. I can't stay at home for months on end, I will go crazy.'

'Baby it's been four days, you need to recover and bond with William, don't even worry about the cafes. Matt and Katy have run everything for so long you have nothing to worry about.'

'Im not worried, but, I like my job, I love being there and seeing all the customers and enjoying the buzz of the place. Just like you love acting and couldn't quit, that's how I feel. William can come in with me and sit in his playpen while I work, at least being the boss I don't have to worry about that.'

'I don't want him sat in work with you Dee, that's not why we had him.'

'Well you bloody stay at home and look after him then.'

Ben sighed deeply, 'baby, I don't want us to argue again today, lets discuss this in a couple of weeks when everything has settled down and Tom isn't coming round. Lets just help Tom and have a good evening huh?'

'Always the voice of reason, now lets start opening these presents before Will wakes up, and Tom arrives.'

Halfway through opening all the gifts, the doorbell heralded the arrival of Tom. 'Oh crap, look at the mess. Ben go and get the door while I try and clear up a bit.'

'It's only bloody Tom, he won't care.'

Dee turned round to see Tom walking into the living room laden with gift bags. 'Bloody hell Tom, what is all that?'

'Well I couldn't resist getting my new godson some gifts, and well I didn't want Eve to feel left out, and then I didn't want beautiful Dee to be left out so I went a little crazy.'

'We can't accept all those gifts Tom. It's too much.'

'Nonsense, it was fun and I like spoiling you all, so come on open up.'

Ben called Eve down to see Tom and to open her presents. Eve came down the stairs with a sulky teen face on. 'What is it now? Oh hi Tom. I was skyping with Hannah and you keep calling me down all the time.'

'Oh so you don't want the present that Tom has bought you then no? That's ok Tom, you can return this one huh?' Replied Dee.

''Sorry Tom, I wasn't being rude, it's just hanging with you oldies ain't my idea of fun, you get it huh?'

Tom smiled 'don't worry Eve, we have all been teenagers. We know how boring us oldies are. I just hope you like it, if not please tell me and we can change it.'

Eve slowly opened her present and inside was a black Dolce and Gabbana coat. 'Oh my god Tom this is amazing. Wow, thank you so much, I can't wait to show Hannah this, she will be well jel.'

Tom laughed and said 'I'm glad you like it. If it doesn't fit we can change the size.'

'That is really too much Tom for Eve, you shouldn't of.'

'Why earn the money if I can't treat my best friends, she deserves it, she's a good kid and with all the presents baby Cumberbatch is getting she deserved something for being his big sister.'

'Well it is very generous of you, I'm almost scared to open mine and William's now.'

'William? Is that the baby's name? I thought you said you haven't picked a name yet when we were on the phone?'

'Well when I came down to make up with Benny, after you told me I had to, it just popped into my head.'

'Its a brilliant name. You know it's my middle name right Dee?' Replied Tom. 

'Shite no, is it?'

'God, I had forgotten about that' interrupted Ben. 

'Well I'm honoured that he will have the same name as me. It's a cool name.' 

'Dee we should change it quickly, before we tell anymore people. To be honest Hercules is looking more bloody appealing right now.' Said Ben. 

Dee laughed and looked at Ben and Tom 'don't be mean Benedict, and Tom it doesn't make any difference to me. He looks like a Will, it suits him. Now give me my present!'

Dee started to open her gift bag and saw a light blue/green box at the bottom. 'Ohh what's this?' Dee pulled the box out and opened the ribbon. 'Oh fecking hell Tom, I can't accept this.' She looked down at a blue sapphire Tiffany necklace. 'This must go back Tom, its too much.'

'Dont be silly Dee, I got it for you, I choose it as you had a baby boy and the assistant said the sapphires would be perfect. You have helped me over the years so much, with coffee and reading lines and being a great friend.'

'But, this must of cost thousands, no, please Tom, spend your money on something better than me.'

'You're worth every single penny isn't she Ben?'

'Huh? Oh of course she is.' 

Dee looked across to Ben and saw a look in his eyes she had not seen before, but he saw her looking at him and the moment disappeared. 

'Well, if you are really sure Tom? Come here and give Mama a big hug and a snog.' 

Tom moved across to Dee and hugged her tightly and kissed her gently on her cheek. 'Thank you Deedee for everything, I mean it.'

'Now you men decide what you want for dinner, while I go and have a chat with Eve, and change Will's bum. He stinks.'


	5. Chapter 5

The morning after the night before was chaos. William had kept them up all night, everywhere they looked there were boxes of presents some opened and some not, and Ben seemed distant. 

'Eve baby, come on you are going to be late for school, get your arse in gear. And William give me two seconds my beautiful boy and then you will be fed I promise.'

'You shouldn't leave him crying Deedee, you have to feed him.' Said Ben.

'He will be fine Ben, its only till Eve has got off to school, then I can sit and feed him in peace. EVE GET DOWN HERE NOW.'

'Gods sake Mum, stop shouting, I'm here. I will see you later.' 

'Be clever baby, and remember we all love you, now get going before you are late.' Dee kissed her on the head and ushered Eve out of the door. 'Right screaming man, it's your turn now, and then hopefully you will go to sleep so me and your Daddy can get some sleep as well. You were very demanding all night.'

Dee took William back to the bedroom and started feeding him. 'Benny, are you ok? You haven't been yourself today and last night come to that. Have I done something wrong?'

'No, it's nothing darling, I'm just tired with everything that has gone on. Hopefully we can sleep today and relax.'

'Are you sure that's all it is?'

'Yes, yes, it's just tiredness.'

Dee settled William in his cot and soothed him off to sleep while Ben climbed in bed next to them. 

'Come and cuddle me Dee, the house is quiet, we are finally alone, and a cuddle and some sleep is what we both need.'

'Well I don't need asking twice.' Dee hopped in next to him and lay her head on his chest. 'Ben baby? Are you sure your ok? I know you say it's tiredness but it seems more than that, and I don't want us to fight but its since Tom gave me that present last night.'

'No Dee, I'm just exhausted, I don't think I realised how much this was going to take over our lives so quickly. I love you all so much, but its bloody knackering. How do people do this and work?'

'You just do Ben, I had to work with Eve, I only had 6 weeks off, and then I was back to work as we needed the money. And I wasn't the boss then so I had to leave her with a childminder all day, but, you cope you have too.'

'You will take longer than 6 weeks off this time though yeah?'

'We will see Ben, but yes I probably will. I was thinking like 3 months off proper working but I'm going to pop in and see them weekly from next week. It will do William good to get out and about and meet people and the regulars will love to meet him.'

Dee was interrupted from her cuddling by her mobile ringing. She sat up in bed and grabbed it before it woke Will up. 

'Hello?.... Oh hi Tom, you ok baby?...... No your not disturbing anything we were just lying in bed as your monster of a godson kept us up all night......... No I haven't got your present on, it's a bit glamorous for a fat lady in her pjs, with milk stains down them and saggy boobs........ Well that's nice of you to say, but no that's being kept for a special occasion.'

Dee heard Ben 'huff' as he turned away from her so he was lying on his side. 

'Errrr Tom, can I call you back?..... Yeah it will be a couple of hours, just so I can get some rest I am knackered and William is finally sleeping so I need to try and get some as well ok?..... Yep talk to you later. Bye.

'Benedict Cumberbatch, turn over and look at me right now. You are not going to sleep until you tell me the truth. You promised you would never lie to me so live up to that and fecking tell me what the hell is wrong.'

'Darling, lets just go to sleep.'

'No baby, you tell me what is wrong and then we can go to sleep.'

'It's nothing, I'm being silly, and its the tiredness and the chaos that's making me that way.'

'Its Toms gift isn't it? I told him it was too much. I will give it back to him.'

'Its not the gift as such, it's the thought behind it. I didn't get you anything like that, and it just reminds me of failing you again that's all.'

'What do you mean you didn't get me anything? You gave me the best gift anyone can give. You gave me our son, our miracle beach baby. Any idiot can go and buy a present but you have given me love, and joy and a family. You can't buy that baby, not even in Harrods.'

'Yes, but I should of got you something. I should of bought you a mummy necklace present not Tom, and I didn't even think of it. It makes me feel a bit of a dick to be honest.'

'Ben snap out of this feeling sorry for yourself, I have you here by my side, which is what I wanted more than anything, I don't need presents and gifts, I need you to help me with Will, and hug and kiss me and love us the way you do.'

'Im not just bloody feeling sorry for myself, I can't help it if I feel a bit of a failure can I?'

'Ben who was the one who finally got William settled last night? Who has been the one who brought me breakfast in bed everyday so far? Who has got Eve up? Who has done all the washing, cleaning and housework? You have, I would be on my knees by now if you hadn't been around. What you have done is worth more than a million necklaces,what you have done is show us how much you care and love us. Please Benny, come back to me, don't be upset anymore, I need you more than you will ever know.'

Ben turned to face Dee and lifted his hand up to her face 'I love you Deedee so much, and I love our two children.' He tenderly kissed her, his hand moving to her hair. 

Dee responded to his kiss, and slowly slid her tongue over his bottom lip. Ben opened his mouth slightly and she nibbled at his bottom lip until she heard him moan. 'Oh Ben, I have missed this' she said breaking away. 

'So have I.' And he pulled her head towards him forcing his mouth on hers. Dee ran her fingers down his back, while holding him, their lips never breaking apart. This time it was Dee moaning, until she pulled away again.

'Feck me Ben, we had better stop as nothing can happen for 8 weeks and I can see this getting out of hand.'

'Well you will just have to control yourself more woman. And we will just have to be like randy teenagers who can only get to first base won't we?'

'Or I could be the most loving and giving lover ever and do something like this.' As she said the words she started to kiss down his chest, she carried on to his belly button, and got lower. With her hands she pulled his pyjama bottoms down slightly so she could see his growing cock. She placed her hand around the base and then lowered her mouth to him. 

Ben made a loud moaning sound as he felt her mouth on him. He pushed his hips up slightly so she could take him fully in her mouth and she did just that surprising him how much she took of him at once. Dee got faster and faster and was sucking harder and she knew Ben wouldn't last long if she carried on at this rate but she didn't want him too, she wanted to know how quickly she could make him come and she was sure she was about to find out. The groans coming from Ben were spurring her on and it was just a couple of minutes later that she felt him twitch and then pulse hot liquid down the back of her throat. 

'Fucking hell Dee, oh my god, what the hell are you doing to me?'

'Satisfying you I hope? That felt good huh?'

'Bloody hell yes, the next 8 weeks will be a dream if this is the way it's going to go.'

'Not fecking likely americano man. And just think of all the favours you will owe me when we get the all clear from Dr Chen. You wouldn't be able to cope with owing me that many sexual favours.'

'I would give it a bloody good go though.' 

'After a few weeks of William being up all night crying we won't be fit for anything but the scrapheap. I'm afraid our long lazy nights and days of staying in bed have come to an end Benny, we will be lucky to have a quickie in the shower from now on.'

'Well, we will just have to make the most of any time we do get won't we? Or I will have to take you away for a romantic night and get someone to babysit.'

'That would be lovely, but what's the betting we would just sleep the whole night as it would be a novelty not being woken up? Our lives for the next 15 years have changed from what we had.'

'You don't regret it though do you Dee?'

'Oh god no, but its going to be interesting getting used to it all again.'

Ben and Dee snuggled up close and soon drifted off into a deep sleep. Holding each other tightly. 

Dee was the first to wake and looked at the clock. 'Bloody hell it's 3pm, I'm surprised you didn't wake me little man. Lets have a look at you, you must be hungry by now.'

Dee leant over to Williams cot next to the bed, and froze. 

'BENNY, BENEDICT, WAKE UP! William come on baby wake up for me, come on precious you need some milk. BEN PLEASE WAKE UP.'

'Huh? What's wrong Dee? Why are you shouting.' Ben looked at Dee's face and knew something bad had happened. 'Whats happened?'

'I don't know Ben, William won't wake up, call a fecking ambulance now. Come on baby, wake up for mummy.'

'Is he fucking breathing Dee? Oh fuck this, yes hello ambulance please....... Our baby boy won't wake up, he's only 5 days old, please send someone now.......... Is he breathing Dee?'

'I think so, but very shallowly.'

'Yes.... She thinks so but not very well...... Please just bloody send someone please.'

On the way to the hospital, Dee and Ben held each other tightly in the ambulance while the paramedic was working on William. Neither of them spoke, no words could be found for what was happening. 

When they arrived they rushed William through to resus and staff swamped him and started trying to find out what was wrong with William. Dee and Ben were still holding on to each other, when Dee said 'we are going to lose him aren't we?'

'Don't you dare say that. He is a fighter, we will not lose him. It is not going to happen.'

'I have seen this before Ben, it won't end well, I know it won't.'

'For fucks sake Dee how can you give up on him like that.'

One of the doctors came over and asked the couple questions about what had happened, when he had been fed and any problems with his birth. Dee answered with exactly what they had done that day and then asked 'is he going to make it Dr? Please be truthful with us, I just need to know if I have to say goodbye to my baby William.'

'I won't lie, he is a very poorly boy but until we know what we are dealing with we won't know exactly. We have taken some blood to send off and we need your permission for some other tests we want to do, but he is still with us so he has a fighting chance.'

'Thank you Dr, you have our permission to do any tests you want to do.' Replied Ben. 

Dee looked at the two men in front of her and walked out of the room. She carried on walking until she got all the way outside and sat on the kerb outside. Her head fell into her lap and the tears fell. Dee looked up and saw a man next to her smoking. 'Erm excuse me, I couldn't have one of those could I? It's just a crap time and I could really do with one.'

'Oh yes, of course, here you go.'

'Thanks, you don't know what that means to me at the moment, life was brilliant and it just turned to shite in the worst possible way.' 

'Im sorry to her that love, hope it gets better for you. Here take another one for later.' 

'Oh that's very kind of you thank you very much.' 

Dee took the spare cigarette and put it in her bag. She sat quietly on the kerb breathing in the smoke from her cigarette and wondering how the hell this has happened. Dee went through everything she had done to see if she had made a mistake somewhere along the line. Nothing came to her mind. She thought about her leaving him to cry for his milk this morning and felt awful that she had made him wait. Maybe that was too blame. Dee suddenly felt a shadow over her, and looked up. 

'You left him! You walked out on our newborn baby and left him, how could you do that Dee?'

'I can't be in there Ben, I can't go through all of this again.'

'Look at me Dee before I lose my shit with you. Your son is in there fighting for his life and his Mum has walked out on him. I know this is hard for you, especially with what happened before but you cannot walk out on our son it doesn't work like that. Now you need to put that fag out and get your fucking arse in that room now. Will needs you more than ever, and damn it you are going to be there for him.'

'Why do the people I love get taken from me Ben? Why can't I just be happy? How many shite things can happen in one persons life. It's like as soon as things start going well someone has to feck with my life.'

'This is not about that now Dee, this is about us being there for our son, and holding his hand and showing him what he has to fight for. Now for fucks sake, get up and come back in with me.'

Dee stood up from the kerb and stubbed her cigarette out, she looked up again at Benedict and tears fell again. 'Don't hate me Ben, please don't hate me. I love my boy so much I just can't comprehend losing him. It's easier to shut off and try and ignore its happening. I can't say goodbye to him like I had to with Danny.'

'Its not like Danny baby, William will get through this and you have me to lean on now, you are not alone. We will face this together. Lets go and hold our son's hand huh?'

'Im so messed up Ben, I can't believe how messed up I am and how messed up this situation is. Help me Ben, help me get through this please?'

Ben took hold of Dee's hand, 'I promise I will, but first lets go and see Will.'

Dee walked towards the doors with a deep sigh, pushed them open and walked straight through to be with her baby boy. 

After what felt like hours, the Dr came to speak to the couple. They were sat either side of the bed, holding Will's tiny hands and stroking his head.

'Hi, we have some of our test results back and we think we know what we are dealing with but we need to do one more test to get a confirmed diagnosis. We need to ask your permission to do a lumber puncture.'

'Meningitis? You think he has meningitis? That's why you do that test isn't it? But he hasn't been poorly, he has been fine.' Said Dee

'Ms Evans, we do think that is what is wrong with William and we need to confirm it, there could also be a chance of a different brain infection so it's very important that we do this test. Do we have your permission?'

'Of course you do, you just have to save him Dr, please just save him.'

'We will do our very best Ms Evans, I can promise you that. You were lucky you got him in so soon, also you might not want to stay for the procedure it can be a distressing experience for parents.'

'No, we can't leave him, can we Ben? We will stay and hold his hand and make sure he is a brave boy. Just make him well so we can take him home again.'

'I have to warn you, that William will cry lots during this procedure and he will be put in an uncomfortable position, with a nurse holding him tight. Lots of parents find this unbearable to watch, are your sure you want to stay?'

'Yes,' replied Ben. 'He needs us to be strong for him, and we will do this wont we Deedee?'

'Yes Dr, we have to be here for him. Just get it over and done with so we know what's happening.'

'Ok, we will prepare for the procedure and be with you in about 10 minutes.'

After the Dr left, Ben looked over at Dee who had her head next to William's body on the hospital bed and was murmuring into his ear. 

'Come on baby batch, you can do this, you have to be strong so you can do all the things I told you about. You have to fight so your Mummy and Daddy and big sister can teach you about the world. Your Daddy has to teach you about the pretty ladies and Eve has to teach you about driving your Mum and Dad mad, and I have to teach you to not bottle stuff up like I do, and open your heart to anyone and everyone. You can't leave us to go to Danny yet. Please stay and fight.'

Ben held back the tears that were threatening to spill over, he kept thinking how much could one woman take in life? To him it was a nightmare, imagine how Dee really felt when she had already lost someone she loved. Ben needed to get some air, just like Dee had earlier. 

'Dee baby, I will be two minutes I just need some air, and we need to call Eve, she will wonder where we are. Ok? I will be back before the Dr gets back I promise.'

Dee looked up at him with tear stained eyes. 'I can't tell her Benny, how do we tell her what could happen?'

'Don't worry baby, leave it to me. I will get someone to bring her straight here. You keep talking to William, he needs to hear your soothing voice.'

Ben left the room and rushed outside as he felt his throat seizing up like he couldn't breathe. Finding himself on the same kerb as he had found Dee he let the tears fall and fall. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and called Julian. 'Boss, it's all going wrong I need you here..... William is in hospital and he might not make it, can you get here and bring Eve?.......... Thanks Boss...... I will call Eve and tell her you are on your way..... Just don't delay anything she needs to be here in case..oh fuck I can't even say it. Eve just needs to be here now.'

Ben hung up and swallowed hard. He knew this was going to be a horrible phone call to make, he dialled Eve's number and sighed. 'Eve, baby girl how's it going?....... Well that's why I am calling, your Mum and I have had to bring William to hospital as he is poorly, Julian is on his way over to pick you up and he is going to bring you to us is that ok?........ No Eve he will be fine, he's a fighter but you just need to be here to hold his hand as his big sister........ They are still running some tests, so we will find out more soon. Just get yourself ready and wait for Julian, he should only be 10 or 15 minutes so be quick ok?....... I love you Eve, see you soon.'

Ben hung up and tears came again. He stood himself up, dusted off the back of his trousers and made his way back to Dee and William.


	6. Chapter 6

Four people stood round William who looked so tiny and helpless on a massive hospital bed surrounded by wires and an intubation tube coming from his mouth. No one said anything they just looked at him while Dee and Ben stroked either side of his head. Julian had an arm around Eve, who had tear stained eyes from crying when she saw how poorly her new brother was. Word had got out and in the waiting room sat Mark, Matt, Fontayne, Summer, Katy, Tom, Chris and Elsa. They also sat in silence all holding hands waiting for any news on how William was doing. The press had got a tip off from the hospital and a few had gathered at the main entrance, but none of the journalists were pushing it as they felt for the family inside with a newborn baby who were going through everyone's worst nightmare. 

The Dr who had been looking after William came over to the family. 'We have the results back and our initial diagnosis has been confirmed. William has neonatal meningitis. We have already started treatment as a precaution, but he will require ongoing antibiotics and a brain scan so we can detect any complications. William will also require another lumbar puncture in 48 hours so we can see if the antibiotics are working. Do you have any questions?'

'Will he be ok Dr? I know I keep asking but I need to know if he will be ok?'

'The next 48 hours are critical, but as I said earlier you got him here quickly and he is still fighting so we hope he will do well, but, babies can go downhill rapidly so we need to be cautious for the next few days.'

'Is it something I did wrong Dr? Was I a bad Mum that caused this?' Dee looked down at the floor as she said this. 

'No Ms Evans, you didn't do anything wrong, it may have passed from you during labour, but no one would of known anything, do not blame yourself, it is a rare disease but it happens and no one could of predicted this.'

'But, but, I gave it to him? Oh Jesus.'

'Ms Evans it is just one explanation, William could of contracted it from someone else, we can test you for some strep bacteria if you wanted, but please don't blame yourself.' 

Ben took Dee's hand and looked deep into her eyes. 'Darling, it is just one of those things, please don't blame yourself, we just need to focus on William and make sure he knows how much we love him.'

The Dr excused himself and Ben shook his hand and said 'thank you.' Ben turned back to Dee, 'do you want to go and tell them in the waiting room, or do you want me to do it?' 

'I will go Ben, I need a cigarette, I also need to find out what I can do about feeding Will, all my milk is in and not feeding him is making me feel like my boobs are going to burst. Keep an eye on Eve for me, I'm worried how she is reacting to this. She hasn't said a lot.'

'I will do, get back as soon as you can, I want you here with us all.' He kissed Dee tenderly on her cheek and gripped her hand. 

'I will baby, I will be back as soon as I can.'

Dee left Ben and walked out into the waiting room, exhaustion had hit her hard, but she knew they hadn't even begun to feel exhausted with the road they had in front of them. The waiting friends jumped up as soon as they saw her, and Mark ran over and grabbed her for a hug.

'Oh Mama, what has happened, is William ok?'

'No, he is so poorly Mark, it's horrible. He has neonatal meningitis, and he's hooked up to all these machines and he's so tiny.' Dee sobbed out. 

'Cry Mama, you need to get it out. We can't believe this is happening, you were so happy when we saw you.'

'The Dr says its just one of those things, it's rare but it happens, but I can't help thinking I did something wrong. We just have to hope and pray that William pulls through. Can you tell the others? I need some air and I'm being naughty and having a cigarette. Don't tell me off, I have only had one today, but just need another one ok?'

'I will tell the others don't worry, you do what you have to do Deedee.'

Dee left and went outside to sit on the kerb. She lit her cigarette and inhaled deeply. As she blew the smoke out she felt an arm on her shoulder and she turned round. 'Oh hi Tom, are you ok?'

'Fuck off asking me that, how is my little godson really doing Dee? And how are you, Ben and Eve doing?'

'It's not the best news Tom, but we have to pray he can fight this. No parent should ever go through this, it's hell on earth and I'm trying to stay strong, but I want to retreat and ignore everything that's happening, and that makes me a horrible person.'

'No it doesn't, it makes you human and fragile and afraid of what could of happened.'

'I walked out on them earlier. I left my son just with Ben as I didn't want to cope with it, that makes me horrible in anyone's book. I just can't cope if it happens all over again. I can't go through the pain of Danny all over again.'

'It was just your coping mechanism, your self preservation instinct kicked in. Don't beat yourself up about it. You have enough to deal with without adding additional stress. You are wonderful Dee, you give with your heart and soul, but even Wonder Woman can get scared.'

'Thanks Tom, you really are a great friend.' As she said these words, she reached up to him sat next to her and hugged him. Dee didn't let go and Tom just carried on holding her. As Dee slowly pulled away from Tom's shoulder, her nose brushed his cheek, and Tom turned his head towards her. As if in slow motion, her lips brushed his and Tom responded and pushed his lips further onto hers. The moment lasted less than 2 seconds, when they both pulled back at once. 

'Feck.'

'Shit.'

'Well that fecking shouldn't of happened. Oh god please don't tell Ben......'

'Nothing happened Deedee, it was comfort that was all. Do not worry about anything, we have kissed for longer than that in front of Ben before, do not punish yourself for needing love and comfort at this moment.'

'It shouldn't of happened Tom, I just don't know where my head is at. Please don't hate me.'

'How could I ever hate you? I love you Deedee.'

'And I love you too Tom, you really are a good mate. Don't ever change.'

'I won't. Now we had better get you back inside to your family and especially William, he needs his Mum by his side ok? I will be here waiting for you all as long as it takes. You are not going through this alone as a family, you have all the rest of your family waiting for you out here.'

'Thank you Tom, I will go in, but one of us will come back with an update when we know anything.' Dee kissed him on the cheek as she got up and walked away. 

'Fucking hell, I do love her, I really do love Dee.' Tom said under his breath. He stayed sitting on the kerb thinking to himself. Shit, fuck, oh god what am I going to do? Nothing, Tom stay calm, it's just because of the situation. You feel love because of what she is going through. The arguments in his head kept going round and round until he said out loud 'oh fuck it.' He got up and walked back inside to sit with the others. 

After another 2 hours Ben came out to give the waiting room the news that William was being moved to paediatric intensive care and they might as well go home as they only let family in. Ben sat in one of the chairs in shock as people asked him how William was doing. 

'We don't know, we won't know for 48 hours, but he is still fighting and hanging in there. We will call or text if we get anymore news, but if you don't hear from us assume that nothing has changed and that he is still battling away.'

One by one they all stood up and hugged Ben as they said goodbye. It was a horrible goodbye as no one knew what the next few days would bring and they all wanted to be able to take the stress away and make William better. 

Ben made his way back up to the intensive care unit and was glad to see Dee, Eve and Julian already there. As he arrived Julian pulled him to one side and asked 'what do you want me to tell the press Ben? They already know after someone here blabbed but what do you want to officially put out?'

'Oh Christ, don't let Dee hear you say this, she will go mad. I don't know what to say but I will have to ask Dee, she needs to know it will be in the papers. Why don't you take Eve for something to eat downstairs and I will see if I can broach it. It needs to be done, as they will just keep digging until they get a leak from here and at least this way we can control the information.'

'I will take Eve, see what you can do Ben. I admire how well you are handling all this, I don't think I could. And how is Dee really doing? She looks exhausted, poor thing.'

'She is exhausted, I don't know how she is doing it only 5 days after giving birth. I'm exhausted and I didn't have to go through what she went through. She is a miracle and a gift to the world.'

Julian nodded in agreement to Ben, and then went and asked Eve to go and get something to eat with him. She looked frightened to leave but with some encouragement from Ben and Dee she relented, after promising to bring her mum back a sandwich.

'Deedee baby, you need to try and sleep at sometime. I know you are not going to leave here, but you need to try and rest in the chair.'

'I will do Ben, when I know he is on the mend. He needs to feel his Mum and Dad around him at all times. And I need to try and use this breast pump to express some milk for little man, that the nurse brought over. I will rest later I promise.'

'Errrr Dee, there are some journalists outside. I didn't know how to bring this up but it's got to be said, someone here leaked it and we need to decide what to do.'

'The fecking bastards. They are like vultures. And which arsehole leaked it out? Can we find out? I will kill them.'

'It could of been anyone Dee, a cleaner, a nurse, admin staff who knows. We would never find out. But, do you want to say anything?'

'Yes, tell them to feck off and leave us alone. That ain't going to happen though is it? Tell them the truth. Tell them that William is seriously ill, the next 48 hours are critical and the family would like to be left in peace. Oh and don't send any presents, but make donations to a meningitis charity instead.'

'Wow Dee, you could take Julian's job! And that's a lovely thought of sending donations. We don't need anything other than for William to get better. I will tell Julian when he gets back with Eve. Now do you want me to help with the breast pump thing?'

Dee actually laughed and surprised herself, 'what are you going to do baby? Are you going to try and milk yourself?'

Ben returned the chuckle 'I just want to help Dee, and make things right. Get the pump thing done so William can enjoy his Mum's milk. And then we both need to sleep after Julian and Eve have gone home.'

Dee fiddled with the breast pump and finally got it working, Ben managed to laugh when she said she felt like a cow being milked, after she was finished they sat holding hands looking at William in his incubator, both praying and wishing for the same thing.

Julian and Eve returned, both looking exhausted, Dee was desperately trying to persuade Eve to go to Hannah's or go back with Julian so his wife could look after her, but was failing. Ben had taken Julian to one side and was discussing what could be said in a press release, Julian promised he would take care of it, and he loved Dee's ideas on donations to a meningitis charity and promised to look into it as soon as he got home and would text Ben the details. 

Ben then had a go at persuading Eve to leave with Julian, and succeeded, but only when Julian intervened and promised Eve that she would be brought back first thing in the morning, and his wife would wake her up with any news no matter how small. 

Dee and Ben said an emotional farewell to their eldest daughter and settled back down into the lounge chairs next to each other. Dee did not take her eyes of William, while Ben held her hand lightly stroking the back to let her know he was there. 

'Bloody hell Ben, this morning feels like a lifetime ago huh? How has the day seemed so long and so short all at the same time? The next couple of days are going to drag you know it will.'

'God yes, I was just thinking the same thing, lets hope Will picks up the next couple of days and we can see some improvement. I never want a day like this again.'

'He's our Son, he must be a fighter, he has two parents who are so strong, he will get through this, I just know he will. And if he has any problems because of what's happened we will just deal with them.' 

'You're right Dee, he will beat this. He has too.'

They settled back into silence, and Dee heard Ben's breathing getting deeper and deeper until he was asleep in the chair next to her. Dee slowly took her hand back from Ben and stood up to look at William.

'Come on, my sweet baby, open your eyes for Mummy, we need to see your beautiful eyes. You are going to beat this baby, you really are. You just have to show them what a fighter you are. I love you so much my gorgeous beach baby.'

Dee carried on staring at Will, holding his tiny fingers in her hand, when she thought she saw his eyes flicker. 'Feck, oh my god. Come on William, that's it open your eyes, I know your poorly and tired but try for your Mama, please baby, do what you did again.'

Dee's eyes did not move off William's, but nothing happened. 'Stupid woman, your imagining things now.' Dee muttered to herself under her breath. She pulled her lounge chair closer to William so she could rest as well as continue to hold his hand. And after just a few minutes Dee was fast asleep like William and Ben. 

'Hhmmppphhhh. What's that?' Dee could feel something that had woken her up. 'Ben stop it, I'm sleeping.' Her eyes half opened, and closed almost instantly again. 'Benedict, I said stop it, stop grabbing.' Dee's eyes opened for a few seconds and she tried to focus. What the hell is that? Dee thought to herself. Suddenly with a jump, she realised that someone was squeezing her finger. Dee sat up in her chair, looked at William in the incubator and looked down at her hand. 

'Fecking hell. Ben? Benny? Benedict? For fecks sake wake up.' Dee stretched her leg out to kick Ben in the shin as she was not going to let go of William's hand. She also leaned over to grab the buzzer to alert the doctor what was happening. 'Benedict, get the feck up!'

'Shit, ow that hurt, what's wrong Dee? What's happened?' Ben stood up looking at William in alarm. 

'Our baby boy is holding on to my finger. He is gripping it really hard, it woke me up.' 

'What? Are you sure?'

'Of course I'm fecking sure, I'm not crazy. Where the hell is that doctor. Ben, press the bloody bell again.'

Ben kept his finger on the buzzer and the doctor and two nurses came rushing over. 

'What's wrong is there a problem? Nothing is showing on our monitors.' Asked the doctor.

'William has started gripping my finger, and I didn't say anything before now, but late last night I'm sure I saw his eyes flicker.'

'Its probably a reflex response but we will do some tests on William and see what's happening. Replied the doctor.

'Its not a reflex he knew I was here, he knew his Mama was holding his hand.'

'I know this is difficult for you Ms Evans, I really do. I don't want to get your hopes up. William is still a very poorly boy.'

As if to prove the doctor wrong William squeezed his Mum's finger hard and flickered his eyes open for a split second. Ben saw it all and said 'he obviously has the same stubborn streak as his Mum for being told he couldn't do something.'

The doctor rushed to Will's side and started to examine him. 'Extraordinary. There is no way he should be opening his eyes yet. Not with how poorly he is. I will have to call the consultant, he needs to see this.'

Dee and Ben looked at each other with silent tears of joy running down their faces. Ben wrapped his arm around Dee's shoulder and stroked William's head with his hand. 

'You told me he would be alright baby, and you were right. Thank god we have turned this corner.'

'I always knew our boy would be a fighter like you Dee. He was just trying to test us, let us hope that he continues to make such quick progress.'


	7. Chapter 7

Dee had never known 48 hours take so long to pass. They were still 2 hours from the lumbar puncture being performed and a brain scan to see if William had any complications. The past 2 days had been highs and lows as Will would flutter his eyes open for a few seconds and then close them again. The consultant was pleased with his progress but Dee was getting impatient.

'Come on William, show them what you are made of. Show them how strong you are and not a wuss like your Daddy.'

'I heard that Dee. I'm not a wuss.'

'Don't you listen to him William, he can be a wuss, but he is the most beautiful wuss in the world. But you my baby boy, you are the strongest boy in the world and you need to show them this. Fight with all your heart.'

Ben took hold of Dee's hand and squeezed. 'He is fighting darling, he is still with us and getting stronger.'

'I just want him to be awake, so I can hold him again, and feed him and take him home to be with us.'

'I know you do, it's what we all want, it will happen, just not as quickly as we both would like. Why don't you try and get some more rest before Eve and Julian get here?'

'No, I can't sleep, I just want to know if the antibiotics are working and he is on the mend. I can't wait for Eve to get here as well, I have missed her while she has been at school. I hope she is doing ok, she has exams soon.'

'We will get her a tutor if we need too, Eve will pass her exams, I promise you. Then we have a wedding to properly plan don't we?'

'Oh Benny, I want too so badly, but I can't even think of that at the moment.' Dee saw his face fall as she said it. 'Don't get upset with me, but now with William who could be poorly for months and look at the state of me. I'm huge, I have fat everywhere, my boobs are down to my knees, it's going to take a lot of work.'

'We will get you a trainer then, but you look perfect to me and if we need to we can hire a nurse to help us look after William. I want to marry you Dee, I need to marry you. And we need to have a christening for little man as well don't we?' 

'Thats more important than our wedding at the moment baby, everything we do has to be for William and Eve at the moment, our time will come I promise you. And then we can have as big a wedding as you want. Thousands of people can come.'

'I don't need a big wedding Deedee, I don't actually care about the wedding, I want to be married to you. I want you as my wife. I don't care if it is literally us and the witnesses there. I just want you to be Mrs Cumberbatch forever.'

'Oh feck, Mrs Cumberbatch? I can't even begin to think how I'm going to sign anything with that name. It's far too long. Can we just change it to Batch or how about something completely different?'

'No, you and Eve with both be Cumberbatch's and lump it. I'm the first to admit its a pain in the arse when signing anything though.'

Dee laughed along with Ben and whispered 'I love you americano man. Don't ever change. Well unless its your surname.'

Eve and Julian arrived not long before William was going to have his tests. The air of fear and anticipation was palpable to the gathered group. Dee engaged Eve in conversation about school and how revision was going but they both knew they were just killing time. Eve was sat on Dee's lap and even as a 16 year old who was nearly as tall as Dee, she didn't care. Eve needed her Mum close to her and too know that everything will be alright. Julian was engaged in an animated conversation with Benedict, with lots of whispers and hand gestures being thrown around. 

The consultant then arrived to take William for his brain scan. Dee accompanied Will to the scanning suite, while the others held vigil upstairs. 'Doctor?'

'Yes Ms Evans.'

'How quickly will we find out the results of these tests?'

'We will have all the results in a couple of hours, but, I must warn you even if the tests results are perfect problems can still arise down the line. We won't know about any impediment to William's sight or hearing for a little while, as they don't always show on scans especially if mild.'

'But, we will be able to find out about any serious brain damage today?'

'Yes, that should be visible on the scan today, in any case we will scan again in a few months time, to confirm everything for you. I know this is hard Ms Evans, but your boy has been a miracle so far. Please try and think positively but cautiously is the advice I would give you.' 

'Thank you so much for all you have done. You have saved our beautiful boy.'

'Thank you for saying that, but we have just done our jobs, it's your baby that has done the hard work.'

They arrived at the scanner suite and Dee had to say goodbye to William. She found it hard to see him being taken off, and tears began to fall. A kind nurse put her arm around her, 'we will take care of him, don't worry. William will only be gone for a few minutes I promise.'

'Thank you, it's just all too much now, a week ago I was giving birth, now my baby is having brain scans and needles stuck everywhere just to see if he will be ok. It's all starting to feel a bit surreal.'

'You have all been incredibly brave. Be proud of yourselves and your baby. Now take a seat and we will be as quick as we can.'

Dee took a seat where the nurse had indicated and pulled out her phone. Seeing she had 22 unread text messages she tried to kill the time by reading and responding to some. Most were on the same vein, and she could copy and paste responses to them and then she saw one from Tom. 

'Is there any more news? Please let me know how William is doing. Love you all xxx'

Dee smiled as she read it. Hit reply and tried to compose her response. 

'Will is having his scan, come and visit us later, I will sneak you in so you can see your godson.'

Dee hit send, and replied to the other texts that people had sent. Within a minute a reply had come through from Tom.

'I don't want to intrude. xxx'

'Stop being stupid, get your fecking arse here, the nurses will love you!'

'And I will love the nurses. I will see you in a while xxx'

Dee smiled again to herself as she thought of Tom and the nurses. Oh yes they will love him. As she looked up she saw the consultant wheeling William back out and towards her. 

'Did he behave?' 

'He was an angel as always.' Replied the consultant. 'Now we will take him back up to the ward and perform his lumbar puncture. Do you want to be around for that?'

'Yes, I went through it before, I need to hold his hand and tell him to be brave.'

They arrived back on the paediatric intensive care ward and Ben and Eve rushed to see how it went. After filling them in, they got Julian to take Eve for a drink while they did the lumbar puncture as they didn't want her to get distressed with the procedure. Dee told Ben about her text conversation with Tom and how they were going to have to sneak him in. 

Ben replied 'Tom could charm his way into anywhere, we don't have to sneak him in.'

'Thats what I thought, it will be good to see him. It's odd not seeing anyone else, we are normally surrounded by so many people. I miss them.'

'We will be home soon baby, and then the chaos will start again.'

'Oh god it's fecking not. No one is coming near our house for weeks until Will is fully recovered.'

The consultant came over and explained the procedure again to the couple and then started prepping. Even though they had been through it before it didn't make it any less distressing. Seeing your baby boy being held down and needles being inserted in his back was no easy task. Dee kept stroking William's head gently and murmuring in his ear. Ben had his arm round Dee holding her tight. After it was over, the consultant asked if Dee would finally like to hold Will for a few minutes.

'Oh bloody hell would I.'

Dee sat in the lounge chair and a nurse carefully passed William over making sure all his tubes and lines were attached. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she lent down and breathed in the smell of Will. 'God, this feels amazing, I can't believe how good this feels. I have missed him.'

'When we have the results of the tests, we will try and see if William can breathe on his own so we will attempt to take him off the ventilator. I must warn you, this might not be successful, it depends how much the antibiotics have worked and it depends how strong your little boy is. Please do not get your hopes up, it is unlikely to work on the first attempt.' 

Ben looked over to the consultant said 'thank you' and then looked back to Dee, who he didn't think had heard a word of what had been said, she was besotted in having her baby back in her arms. 

One of the ward nurses walked across to Ben and said 'Err Mr Cumberbatch, there is a man at the door saying he is your brother, but I have to say he looks remarkably like an actor called Tom Hiddleston. Is it ok if we let him in? I shouldn't really but I will make an exception for a few minutes given the circumstances.'

Ben chuckled and said 'yes, please let him in, he is William's godfather, and he has been desperate to see Will. We will be quiet I promise you and he is more or less family. 

The nurse smiled up at Ben and walked off to let Tom into the ward. 

'Thank you darling, how is my brother and family doing?'

'Mr Hiddleston I know exactly who you are, you can drop the act about Mr Cumberbatch being your brother.'

Tom had the grace to blush slightly, 'you can't blame an actor for trying huh?' And added a wink. 

The nurse was now the one blushing and responded with a giggle. She led Tom over to Ben and Dee and left them alone. 

Tom could not take his eyes off Dee with William still in her arms. He shook his head, put the bags that he was carrying on the floor and turned to Ben and pulled him into a man hug. 

'So how's my brother doing huh?' Ben asked with a laugh.

'Well, I thought it would get me in, how did I know she would know who I was. At least she let me come in. She will forgive me when she see's what I have got for the staff in my bags though.' 

'Always the charmer eh Tom?'

'Of course, now spill, how is William really doing? Any news on the results yet?'

'No, we won't know for a couple of hours.'

A nurse came over and interrupted Dee saying William needed to go back into his incubator.

'Oh please no, Ben hasn't even held him yet, please just a couple more minutes.'

'Ok, Deedee, let me help you pass him to Benedict, but he really must go back in after that. I know it's horrible, but its for his own health.'

Ben left Tom's side and sat in the lounge chair that Dee had vacated and held his arms out for the nurse to pass William to him. It was déjà vu as tears streamed down Ben's face just as they had for Dee. 

Dee walked to Tom's side and hugged him tightly while still looking at William and Ben. As she pulled away she wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her head on his shoulder. 

'A good feeling huh Mama Dee?'

'Oh god Tom it was the best, I have missed holding him so much. He smelt just like my boy.'

'Im glad I was here to see it, and he already looks so much better, he has colour back in his cheeks.'

'He does, doesn't he Tom? I'm so glad you noticed it, I saw he had, but then I thought maybe I was imagining it as I want him to get better so badly.'

'No, compared to the picture Ben sent me he looks so much better.'

'Ben sent you pictures?'

'Yes, did you not know? Oh god, they broke my heart but also made my day that he was still fighting. He takes after his godfather huh?' 

Dee laughed and replied 'no, he takes after his Mama. I have had to fight far too much, it was going to rub off on him. And he gets his stubbornness from me.'

'You stubborn? Never.' Tom laughed and pulled Dee in closer and kissed her on the top of her hair. 

'So what's in the bags then Shakespeare? Needed to do a little shopping in Harrods food hall before you could grace us with your presence?'

'Im glad you asked, I have treats for everyone.'

'What treats? Treats for me?'

'Well, after what you said about the nurses, I have bought in doughnuts and Belgian chocolates for all of the staff.'

'Oh my god they will love you forever. Look at you charming your way around the ladies. Single life getting to you hun? It's not exactly been long Tom only a few days, surely you can even last that long.'

'Ha ha, yes laugh it up. I was actually going to use them as bribery if they wouldn't let me in, and as a thank you for everything they have done for you all. And then I got some chocolates for Eve, and that pasta thing that Ben likes from the Harrods deli, and then I got to you.'

'What did you get me? Oohhh I'm excited about what food you have got me now.'

'Well, I remembered that you liked those Italian bread sticks that I had brought into the cafe once. So I got you some boxes of those.'

'How did you remember that? That was years ago. Oh Tom that is so sweet.'

'I remember stuff like that. Don't know how but it just seems to stick.'

'Amazing, thank you Thomas, you are a star. I will munch on those here, I don't suppose you.....'

'Bought the sun dried tomato dip?'

'How? How did you do that? Are my magic powers rubbing off on you?'

''I think you just bring out my best side, that's all. It's the love and care you give to others it was bound to happen sooner or later.'

'Aaww feck off. You have a heart of gold deep inside. Now why don't you and Ben go and give your gifts to the pretty nurses and sign your autographs and pose for pictures and they will probably let you come in again. Go and be movie stars for 10 minutes.'

Dee sat in the chair Ben had vacated and looked at William back in his incubator all cocooned from the world. She looked up and saw Ben and Tom laughing with the staff as they handed out all the food Tom had brought in, and what a lot of food it was. They would be eating that lot for a month. 

Dee could see Tom charming one of the nurses who was blushing as Tom spoke to her and he put his arm round her and one of the other staff took a photo. Dee liked seeing the two of them happy and in their comfort zone after the few days they have spent in hell. It gave her hope for the future that normality, or rather what they called normality would come back to them. 

Dee heard a noise coming from the incubator and spun her head round. She looked inside and saw what looked like William coughing. 

'Feck, BEN!' Screamed Deedee at the top of her voice. 'Get the staff here now, William is choking or something.'

Ben had heard Dee shout and came rushing over with two nurses and a junior doctor in tow. 

'Whats happened?' Gasped Ben. 

'I don't know he just started coughing. Doctor is everything ok?'

'We need to call the consultant to come and check on him.' Replied the doctor. One of the nurses rushed off to get him while the junior doctor carried on examining William. 

'Please tell us, is he choking?'

'No Ms Evans, he's not choking I am sure of that, I actually think William is coming round and trying to breathe on his own and the ventilator is aggravating him, but, I need the consultant to come and check.'

'What? He's breathing on his own? How is that possible?' Dee looked up at Ben and saw Tom standing next to him. 

The consultant came rushing in, stethoscope already in his ears, and going straight to listen to William's chest. 

'Unbelievable, you really are a fighter aren't you champ.' Muttered the consultant. He turned to face Dee and Ben, and saw Tom standing there as well and had a brief wave of recognition for the actor and smiled. 

'It seems William wants to move up the schedule for removing the ventilator. We are going to attempt to remove it now, but I again must warn you it may fail, the next few hours will be crucial, and he will be closely monitored. I won't leave the ward till I am satisfied of no relapse and we have got the test results back.'

'Will it hurt him?' Asked Dee very quietly. 

'No Deedee, it won't hurt him at all, he may cough a lot but it won't cause him any pain, are you happy for me to proceed?'

'Do what you have to do.' Replied Ben.

Dee moved out of the way while the doctors and nurses got on with seeing to William. She stood in between Ben and Tom who both had their arms tight around her and she had her arms round both of their waists. 

Suddenly Dee got a fit of the giggles. Ben looked at her with a worried look on his face. 

'Are you ok darling? Have you turned hysterical?'

'No, I'm just thinking what I must look like with two massive movie stars with their arms round me to all the staff here. I forget what you all do most of the time, and it has just hit me what I must look like. And I'm bloody nervous and its making me laugh.'

'Don't be nervous baby, stay strong.' Replied Ben. 

The consultant and his staff worked quickly on William and the intubation tube was soon removed. The three of them there all held their breath while waiting for William to take his first. 

They heard a small cough first, and the consultant held his stethoscope on Will's chest. More coughing was heard and it tore at Dee's heart hearing him like this. Then the moment they had hoped for. All of them saw William's tiny chest move up and down in a slow steady pace. The consultant carried on listening to his chest closely, and after a couple of minutes looked up at the family and nodded. 

'He is holding his own for now. He really is a champ this one.' 

'Thank you, thank you, thank you.' Said Dee as she grabbed the consultant in for a hug. 

Shocked the consultant replied 'oh, your welcome. Just be cautious, anything could change, but we will be right on hand if he needs to go back on the ventilator. I will come back to you when we have the test results back.'

Dee turned back to Ben and Tom and grabbed them both for a hug, and as she did she saw Julian and Eve coming back onto the ward and ran and grabbed them for a hug. Confused as to what was going on they looked over to William and saw the ventilator had been removed.

'What the hell happened Mum? What did we miss.'

'Your brother is as snarly and lovely as you are and wanted to show us that he can breathe all by himself.'

'That is wonderful news Deedee' replied Julian. 

Eve continued to hug her Mum 'so he's going to be ok then?'

'We have to remain cautious according the the doctors but its looking good baby girl, it really is looking good. Now, go and give your Dad and Tom a cuddle and I think Tom has bought you some chocolates so go and stuff those down.'

Eve walked over to the two men and started holding a conversation with them. Dee looked back at Julian 'how's she really doing Julian? Give it to me straight.'

'Honestly Dee, she is the most 'head screwed on' teen I know. Her maturity is unbelievable, my wife has commented on it when she has had chats with her. We have had tears and a few shouts, but nothing that my kids haven't done to us before. We will miss her when she comes back home to you.' 

'Wow, really? I'm shocked to be honest, she can be a right moody teen at home sometimes. I just worry that after everything with Danny, this would send her over the edge. No teen should have this much crap happen to them.'

'Eve is braver than you think. You don't have any worries with her at all. Also Dee has Ben mentioned what we were talking about earlier?'

'No, he hasn't mentioned anything at all. Why what's up?'

'He has a day of press junket work booked in, I have tried to change it but the studio are being difficult even with the circumstances. Ben is refusing to do it.'

'Fecking hell Julian, they won't let him get out of it?'

'No, I have tried everything and he is contracted to do it. William wasn't even due to be here yet so it would of been ok in normal circumstances.'

'Well, he will have to do it, I don't like it and you can make those feelings known to the executives. How fecking insensitive must you be to demand he does it. No he can go.'

'Thank you Deedee, I hoped you would be the voice of reason in this. I don't like him doing it, and I will make it known. You will need to tell him to keep his feelings under wraps in the interviews that day, the studio won't like it if he tells every journalist he doesn't want to be there. I will be banning any questions on William or his health and the studio have agreed to that.'

'I still struggle to get my head around it all, it's a world I will never understand thank god. He's just Ben, the man who I knocked off his feet, fell in love with and who makes the worlds worst coffee.'

'You have been the making of him Dee, I would never say this to Ben, but you are the best thing to happen to him. His work has stepped up to a different level since you came into his life, and the awards he has started winning are testament to that. You bring out the best in him.'

'I don't know how, I drive him crackers most days, it has not been the easiest of rides, but I truly found my soul mate when I knocked him over and I confirmed it that night at Tom's party.'

'You were made for each other. You both have craziness and kindness in equal measures, and any woman who can put me in my place like you did your first awards ceremony is ok by me.' 

Dee laughed and hugged Julian tightly. 'I will speak to Ben about his work next week, leave it to me. He will kick off a bit, and then I will have to agree with everything he says and then at the end of all of it he will go 'yes, ok Dee I will do it.' And we will hug and it will be sorted.'

Julian chuckled and grabbed Dee for another hug. 'I love your refreshing attitude, it's not only Ben you gave love and happiness too when you came into his life, you brought it to me as well. Thank you.' 

'Oh stop the mushy crap! You will make me cry.' 

Dee took Julian's hand and walked back over to Ben, Eve and Tom. Julian looked in wonder at William breathing all on his own, and the group followed his lead and all stared in amazement at the bravest little baby in the world.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

With news that the antibiotics were working, the mood picked up for the next few days. It was tiring for the couple to be living at the hospital, and Dee and Ben had started snapping at each other. 

'For fecks sake Ben, please just calm down about the work. You have to do it, you can't get out of it, so man up and bloody get on with it.'

'Thats easy for you to say, given you won't have to leave William.'

'You want me to go and speak to them? I would, I don't think you would like what I would say to them though.' Dee laughed to try and break the tension. 

'I know you are right, but it's just shit that I have to leave you both.'

'We will be fine, it's for one day that's all honey. Now get some rest before tomorrow or you are going to look like shite in all your interviews.'

Dee leaned up and hugged Ben, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. 'I love you americano man, go and make your family proud of you.'

Dee waved Ben off the next morning when his car came and picked him up from the hospital. She held back the tears that it was just her and William now. 

'We are going to be fine aren't we Will? We don't need stinky Daddy or anyone else do we? No my beautiful boy, it's just you and me and later on Eve.'

'Well I beg to differ on that Mama Deedee.'

Dee spun round and saw Tom stood behind her. 

'Tom? What the hell are you doing here? Oh don't tell me, Ben asked you to come and sit with me because he's working today huh?'

'You got it, but don't be mad as I come with a gift. Tada!'

Tom whipped out a cup of espresso from the cafe from behind his back and Dee's eyes lit up. 

'Oh sweet Jesus, that is a sight for sore eyes. Come to Mama proper coffee. It's been too long.'

'Ha, I knew you would like it, now drink up and tell me how my beautiful godson is doing today.'

'He is doing really well, they say he could come home in about a week if he carries on doing so well.'

'Wow, so soon?'

'Yes, so soon, he takes after his Mama and you can't keep us down. I can't breast feed him anymore though, my milk all dried up.'

'Oh right, err ok. And are you ok with that?'

'Sorry to fecking blurt out about boobs, but you know. I'm upset, I enjoyed feeding him. I know Ben is looking forward to being able to feed him."

'There is nothing better than seeing the mother of your children feeding your baby, but I can understand that the dad feels left out. I would love to feed my baby when I have one.'

'One day you will Thomas, one day, and you will make a fabulous Dad.'

'Thanks Dee, that's a lovely thing to say. Can I be cheeky and ask to hold the little man.'

'Course you can, just be careful with his tubes.'

Dee carefully passed William over to Tom as he sat in the big armchair. Looking at them both could melt anyone's heart and Dee heard some nurses clucking over him. She sneakily took out her phone and took a picture. 

'Oi Dee did you just take a picture of me?'

'You look so cute, I couldn't resist. Do you want me to send you it?'

'Hell yes, can I put it on twitter?'

'Oh feck I don't know about that Tom, I would have to check with Ben. I just don't want pictures like this getting in the press that's all.'

'Sorry Dee I forget how private you are, just cos I splash everything around, doesn't mean everyone does.'

'I just hate that fakeness and shite that comes with your profession. I like my privacy. Just because Ben chooses to be in the public eye, doesn't mean I want to be or I want my kids to be.'

'I need a woman like you Deedee, one who is happy to stay out of the limelight. I seem to pick the ones who only want me for the fame, or who want me to stop acting.'

'You will find someone Tom, I know you will. I didn't expect to find my Ben and then he popped up out of nowhere. I can't imagine my life without him, or Eve or this little one. If you had asked me fecking 18 months ago, I would have a husband to be and a baby I would of laughed and then spat in your coffee for being an idiot.'

'I hope I'm half as lucky as Ben is.'

'Feck off with the mushy stuff, and give me my boy back. Then go and chat to the nurses who's ovaries have just melted at the sight of you with Will.'

Tom carefully passed Will back to Dee and she sat down. Tom ambled over to the nurses and they instantly started blushing.  
'And this is why I won't let you go out with Uncle Tom when you are older. Look at him with his flirting and his silly laugh and batting those eyelashes. The girls love it, but I don't want the girls loving you, no you are my boy.'

William was getting tired so Dee placed him back in his incubator and curled up in the chair to watch him. She never tired of looking at him, he had curls which was to be expected given hers and Ben's frizzy curls. And he had beautiful blue eyes. And his nose and lips were straight off Ben's face. He was going to be a handsome devil when he was older. Dee's eyes were beginning to close along with William's and she was soon drifting off to sleep. 

Dee was woken with a jump, by someone moving next to her. 

'What the feck, oh god Tom, it's you.'

'Sorry Dee, I was trying to turn over without disturbing you, these chairs are a bit too close together.'

'Ha, yeah that's when me and Ben curl up together at night. I have to be able to touch Ben when we are sleeping.'

'That makes me want to vomit a little bit in my mouth.'

'Oh yeah laugh it up Shakespeare. I can't help it if I need Ben close to me.'

Tom hugged Dee in close to his chest and kissed her on her head. Dee rested her head on his shoulder and looked up at him.

'Never change Mama Dee, never change. Always hold the ones you love close to you.'

At that moment Ben walked back in and looked at Dee and Tom curled up together. 

'When I said look after Dee and William I didn't mean like this Tom. And you Dee, I go for one day and look how fickle you are.'

Ben's eyes gave away that he wasn't angry even though he was trying to look angry. 

'Its a good job he didn't turn up 10 minutes ago when we were still kissing isn't it Dee?'

'Oh god yes, he would of been really mad then. We could show him what it looked like Tom if you were willing to.'

'Of course Dee, I'm sure Ben wants to see what we got up to while he was away.'

Dee started to lean in towards Tom and Tom tilted his head as if he was going to kiss her. 

'Enough. Enough already. Tom you are sacked as godfather. Dee you are in serious trouble when we are alone.' 

'Now, you know how I feel when you kiss all the ladies at work.'

'I don't kiss all the ladies at work. You make me sound like a whore.'  
'You do kiss all the ladies at work, don't forget I watch what you are in now, so you can't fib, and you sleep with them. Saying that Tom and I slept together this afternoon and rather illuminating it was too.'

Dee couldn't hold her giggling in any longer and burst out laughing. Ben moved over to her and awarded her with a lingering kiss. 

'You really are a rubbish actress Dee.' Stated Tom.

'I know, I'm shocking aren't I. Don't worry lads your screen beauties are safe, I won't be joining them anytime soon.'

'Now, how has my handsome son been doing today?' 

'He had hugs with Uncle Tom, and then he has slept all afternoon, so he is being a very good boy. And how was your day? Did you charm them like I told you to or were you a fecking miserable git?'

'A bit of both I suppose. I only snapped with one journalist when he asked personal questions on William. They knew not to ask, but he tried it on anyway. At least I won't have to do it again for a long time.'

'How long? How long have I got you for this time?'

'6 months give or take a few days.'

'Oh feck, 6 months? Tom we are going to have to get more devious in our clandestine meetings sweetheart.'

'You can come to my place anytime you want Mama Dee. I will get you a key cut.' Replied Tom. 

'Shall I just leave you two to it? I feel like I'm interrupting this love in.'

Dee grabbed up at Ben and pulled him onto her lap. 'The only love in I want is with you.' Dee pulled Ben's mouth onto hers and they kissed. 

'Well, that's my cue to get off and leave the love birds to it.' Tom said as he jumped out of the chair next to Ben and Dee. 

Ben stood up and clapped Tom on the back. 'Thanks for looking after her mate. I don't know what I would do without you.'

'You don't have to thank me you idiot. That's what friends do for each other. Now look after your family and let me go out partying."

Tom waved back at them both and left. Dee pulled Ben in for a hug. 

'I missed you today baby.'

'I missed you too. Now how has Will really been?'

'He has been fabulous. Absolutely fabulous. He enjoyed the cuddles that he got. I can't wait to get him home again, but I have to say I'm also fecking terrified. Did you mean it when we said we could get a nurse?'

'Of course I did. Whatever you think we need. I think we will be fine, but I can understand your panic after what has happened. Let me ask Julian to arrange some stuff yeah?'

'Thank you Ben, now kiss me again.'

Ben kissed Dee softly and tenderly, 'it will all be fine Dee, I promise you it will all be fine.'

'You know exactly the right bloody things to say to me. Now do you want to hold William? He needs a Daddy cuddle I think.'

Dee carefully took William out of the incubator he was sleeping in and passed him over to Ben. The look of adoration on Ben's face melted her heart, she would never tire of seeing that look. Dee snuggled in beside her two boys and drifted off into another sleep. 

As each day passed William became stronger and stronger. The medical staff were talking about being able to go home in a few days. 

'Its too soon Ben, I don't want to get him home and Will be poorly again.'

'Look at him Dee, he is thriving, he is gaining weight, he is awake and alert, he truly is a miracle. It's only been two weeks and look at him. We are blessed that he has been left so healthy.'

'Yes, but what if people bring fecking germs in with them and he gets sick? Or what if he has a relapse?'

'None of that is going to happen, and anyway we have the nurse coming in every day for a few weeks, and I will hire bloody industrial cleaners if I need to, to decontaminate every single surface in the house. You do not have to worry about anything.'

Dee sighed as she looked down at Will. 'I just love him so much, I can't risk anything else happening. I probably sound fecking neurotic to you, but he is so fragile and tiny that we cannot allow anything to happen. We will need those hand gels for people to use. And maybe masks as well, and.....


End file.
